Portugal's Parliament Gets Abortion Issue
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Portugal's Parliament Gets Abortion Issue
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Reuters - Feb 11, 2007
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-02-11T230359Z_01_L10771487_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-PORTUGAL-ABORTION-COL.XML
Portugal PM sends abortion debate to parliament
By Axel Bugge
LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's ruling Socialists will use their majority in
parliament to legalize abortion after Sunday's referendum on the issue
failed because turnout was too low to make it binding.
More than half of the traditionally Catholic nation's 8.7 million electorate
abstained; of those who voted, 59.3 percent voted to lift the abortion ban
and 40.8 percent to keep it.
Socialist Prime Minister Jose Socrates said despite the turnout, the outcome
was in favor of lifting the ban. Portugal's new abortion law will only allow
abortions in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
"The people spoke with a clear voice," Socrates said in a televised speech.
"The law will now be discussed and approved in parliament. Our interest is
to fight clandestine abortion and we have to produce a law that respects the
result of the referendum."
The Socialists, who promised to hold an abortion referendum when elected in
early 2005, hold 121 seats in the 230-seat parliament and can count on
backing from at least two other parties to pass the motion.
Still, a spokesman for Socrates said it was not yet decided when the motion
to legalize abortion will be sent to parliament.
Those who oppose abortion questioned Socrates' interpretation of the vote.
"Socrates will be responsible for this sad chapter in Portugal's history,
for insisting on a political move that has split Portuguese society," said
Jose Ribeiro e Castro, head of the Partido Popular party that campaigned for
the "no."
"Low voter turnout has confirmed that (abortion) was not a critical issue."
A STEP FORWARD?
When the ban is lifted, Portugal will join most European countries in
allowing abortions and leave behind a small group of Malta, Ireland and
Poland with strict anti-abortion laws.
Portugal's abortion law will just allow abortions in the first 10 weeks of
pregnancy, making it more restrictive than most countries where they are
permitted much later into pregnancy.
The campaign had pitted traditional Catholics against young urban liberals,
who rejoiced at the result, with some cars sounding their horns in central
Lisbon.
"The 'yes' won," Maria Jose Alves, a doctor who heads one of the
pro-abortion rights groups, told applauding crowds. "This result is an
unequivocal sign for parliament to legislate according to the will of the
Portuguese."
Traditional anti-abortionists were unimpressed.
"We think that a complete lack of protection of human life until the first
10 weeks of pregnancy is morally wrong and represents a step backwards for
civilization," said Luis Graca, a member of the Northern Movement for Life
group.
Both camps had argued the current law treats women unfairly but
anti-abortion campaigners had argued the state must find ways to help women
have unwanted babies.
The "yes" camp used the estimated 23,000 clandestine abortions every year as
the focus of their campaign to legalize abortion.
Opponents feared the move could erode traditional values in one of Europe's
most conservative countries. Catholic leaders had also voiced concerns
legalizing abortion would raise costs in the health service and increase the
number of abortions.
Rain had discouraged voting in Sunday's referendum.
In 1998, a slight majority voted to keep the ban but turnout was even lower
than on Sunday.
Devout Catholics at the Sanctuary of Fatima north of Lisbon, where the
Virgin Mary was reported to have appeared six times to three shepherd
children in 1917, prayed for the unborn child on Sunday. "Born by God's
will," read large posters with pictures of babies in front of the shrine.
"We voted for life, which is our duty," said a nun as she left a polling
booth near Fatima, Portugal's main Catholic site.
[Additional reporting by Henrique Almeida and Sergio Goncalves]
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.
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