AP News, February 11th, 2007
Portugal is deciding in a national referendum Sunday whether to discard its strict abortion law, a battle that pits the Socialist government against conservative parties and the Catholic Church.
The center-left Socialist government wants to grant women the right to opt for abortion during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
Portugal, where more than 90 percent of people say they are Catholic, has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the European Union. The procedure is allowed only in cases of rape, fetal malformation or if a mother's health is in danger, and only in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
In 23 other EU nations, abortion is permitted within much broader limits. Women can ask for abortions up to the 24th week of pregnancy in Britain and up to the 12th week in Germany, France and Italy.
The government has portrayed the ballot as a measure of Portugal's willingness to adopt more modern attitudes. Its effort to change the law, though, has run into emphatic opposition from the church, which wants to keep the restrictions in place.
More than 50 percent of the country's almost 9 million registered voters need to cast ballots for the referendum's outcome to be binding. If the turnout is lower, the referendum is nullified.
The single question on the ballot asks voters if they want to allow abortion up to the 10th week.
Four hours before polls closed, only 31 percent of the country's voters had cast their ballot, according to the National Election Commission.
Maria Candida Duarte, 72, voting at a Lisbon polling station, said she wanted to keep the strict policies in place.
"It's urgent to maintain our position. A child has a right to life _ from conception," she said.
Carlos Sousa, 56, condemned the existing legislation: "It's a bad law, not adjusted to our society."
Recent opinion polls have indicated that a majority of Portugal's voters intend to approve the change.
In 1998, a majority of voters rejected a similar proposal; the referendum was declared void because of a low turnout, and Portugal's policy remained unchanged.
"I've come to vote because I don't want the outcome to be that of the other referendum where nothing was decided," said Manuel Antonio, 58, voting with his wife in central Lisbon. "What's at stake is women's ability to decide. The current law does not fit with Europe."
Anticipating a repeat of the 1998 referendum, Prime Minister Jose Socrates has said that if the turnout is too low to make the ballot binding but the "Yes" camp collects most of the votes cast, he will use his party's majority in Parliament to push through legislation allowing abortion.
Socrates, a longtime campaigner for abortion rights, has called the current law "backward" and "a national disgrace."
He says women seeking to terminate their pregnancies simply travel to EU countries where it is legal, especially private clinics across the border in Spain, or resort to shady, back-street clinics at home.
He cites figures compiled by abortion rights groups _ and disputed by their opponents _ that around 10,000 women are hospitalized every year with complications arising from botched back-street abortions.
Women opting for illegal abortions risk up to three years in prison. However, none has ever been jailed, though doctors and nurses who assisted the procedure have.
Even if voters back the change, it could be several months before women can choose to terminate their pregnancies.
A bill would have to be voted on in Parliament and then go to the president for approval. It would take effect only when the new legislation is published in the public records _ a procedure which usually takes months.
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Associated Press writer Joana Mateus contributed to this report.
