Vol. 71/No. 9      March 5, 2007

The referendum result is not legally binding. At least half the 8.8 million registered voters must cast a ballot in order for that to be the case, while only 44 percent did so. However, Portugal’s prime minister, José Sócrates, of the Socialist Party, said he will now present a law in parliament to decriminalize abortion. “The people spoke with a clear voice,” he said. “The law now will be discussed and approved in Parliament.” The proposed bill would make abortion legal until the 10th week of pregnancy.

In 1998, prochoice groups in Portugal placed on the ballot a similar referendum, which was narrowly defeated. That was the first attempt to modify a 1984 law that placed severe restrictions on access to abortion.

The law currently in effect in Portugal allows abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy in cases of mental and physical risk to the woman, until 16 weeks in cases of rape, until 24 weeks if the fetus is deformed, and at any time if the woman’s life is in danger. It imposes prison sentences of up to three years for a woman who undergoes an illegal abortion and up to eight years for the person performing it. Portugal is the only European Union (EU) member state that has put a woman on trial for undergoing an abortion.

In recent years about 20 such trials of women, doctors, and others have taken place. In 2002, a nurse was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison for performing abortions in her home. She was tried with 43 others charged with similar violations. A case in 2005 of three women accused of obtaining an abortion sparked a protest by more than 100 people. The protesters held signs with the names of women put on trial for such “crimes,” and placards calling for an end to these trials, which are often conducted in makeshift courthouses.

Portugal’s Planned Parenthood Association estimates that 20,000-40,000 back-alley abortions take place annually in the country. Thousands more go abroad to terminate unwanted pregnancies. Advocates of a woman’s right to choose abortion say about 10,000 women are hospitalized every year with complications arising from botched, illegal abortions.

“The ‘Yes’ won,” said Maria José Alves, a doctor who heads one of the prochoice groups. “This result is an unequivocal sign for parliament to legislate according to the will of the Portuguese.” Alves was referring to the campaign launched by the Portuguese Family Planning Association in 1998 to advocate decriminalizing abortion and other improvements in reproductive health.

Antiabortion laws remain in effect in a handful of EU member states, including Ireland, Malta, and Poland.  
 
 
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