LISBON, February 15, 2002 (LSN.ca) – In an interview with the BBC, the President of Portugal, Jorge Sampaio, gave a strong indication that the country will hold another referendum on abortion. Reacting to claims of tens of thousands of illegal abortions Sampaio said, “We have to see what is actually happening. We can’t disguise this issue, it’s being disguised.”
Noted by the BBC as in favour of abortion, he indicated that he was perturbed by having to consult the public. “I unfortunately have to have in mind other opinions,” he said. “We’ll probably have to have a new referendum on this.”
Portugal’s current abortion law limits the procedure to cases where a pregnancy is thought to endanger a woman’s health, or in cases of pregnancy caused by rape. The law forbids all abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. There were about 500 abortions in the country last year. In a June 1998 referendum, Portuguese voters narrowly rejected a bid to introduce abortion on demand in the largely Roman Catholic country. Only 31% of registered voters took part in the referendum; but of those, 51% voted against a change in the law.
In 2000 Planned Parenthood and UNFPA promoted abortion in the Portuguese Parliament with a forum on sexual and reproductive health in the context of development.” In March 2001 the Portuguese Parliament approved the free distribution of the abortifacient morning after pill in pharmacies, hospitals and health centres. This January the issue was again raised as a Portuguese nurse who was operating an illegal abortion ring out of her home was sentenced to 8 ½ years in prison.
See the BBC coverage: https://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1820000/1820538.stm
See related LifeSite coverage: PORTUGUESE ILLEGAL ABORTIONIST RING LEADER SENTENCE TO 8 ½ YEARS IN PRISON https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/jan/020118.html#5 PORTUGUESE PARLIAMENT BACKS ABORTIFACIENT MORNING-AFTER PILLS https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/mar/010320.html#3 PORTUGAL REJECTS LIBERAL ABORTION LAW https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1998/june/980629.html#3