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Portugese Gov’t Launches Pro-Abortion Campaign

By Gudrun Schultz

LISBON, Portugal, October 18, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates launched a pro-abortion campaign aimed at achieving a “yes” vote in a referendum on abortion laws scheduled for January, the People’s Daily reported yesterday.

“What is at stake here is that women who wish to abort should be free to do so up to 10 weeks of pregnancy without being persecuted or prosecuted,” Socrates said during his closing speech at the Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Conference, organized by the Socialist deputies of the European Parliament. “The Socialist Party does not impose its will. Every person should be free and I support the yes campaign.”

The campaign is pushing for support for abortion on demand up to the tenth week of pregnancy. Under current laws, abortion is illegal in Portugal throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Exceptions are made up until the 12th week for cases of rape or when the mother’s life is in danger.

The Socialist government has been trying to break down laws protecting unborn children for almost a decade, beginning with a 1997 bill to permit unrestricted abortion. That bill was defeated in Parliament by just one vote. A second bill which increased the allowable abortion period for rape or fetal handicaps passed without difficulty, but concerted efforts by the pro-life movement led to a 1998 referendum which resulted in the bill’s defeat.

Only a small percentage of voters participated in the referendum, however, and the bill’s defeat was achieved with a narrow margin. While over 90 percent of Portuguese citizens are registered as Catholic, the number of residents actually practicing their religion is drastically lower, in a country now more culturally Catholic than religiously faithful.

A petition containing 190,000 signatures in opposition to liberalizing the country’s abortion laws was presented to Parliament in 2004, effectively shutting down the government’s efforts to reopen the abortion debate at that time. The government announced the coming January referendum last month.

See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

Socialist Portugal Government to Introduce Abortion Vote January 2007
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/sep/06091803.html

Ruling Socialists in Portugal Will Introduce Bill to Legalize Abortion in September
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06063005.html

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