Portugal: Legal Abortion After Decades of Struggle

In Sunday’s referendum, 59 percent of voters responded "yes" and 41 percent responded "no" to the question "Do you agree with the decriminalisation of abortion if it is performed in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, at the request of the woman, in a legal medical establishment?" Turnout stood at 44 percent of the country’s 8.7 million voters.

The vote revoked a 1998 referendum in which voters decided against legalising abortion, in the first attempt to modify the 1984 Portuguese law that makes abortion illegal unless the mother’s life is at risk or — in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy — if the foetus is deformed, or in case of rape.

In addition, Portugal is currently the only EU country where women who undergo an abortion face prison sentences, of up to three years, with the added humiliation that the sentences are read out during public, televised trials.

Portugal will now abandon the list of EU countries with the strictest abortion laws, made up of Ireland, Malta and Poland.

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The leader of the PCP, Jerónimo de Sousa, said the result "is a clear expression of tolerance and an important victory for modernity," while the head of the BI, Francisco Louçã, exclaimed that "Portugal has finally entered the 21st century."

Women’s rights activists and citizens movements, meanwhile, are celebrating a triumph that they have been awaiting for 33 years, since Portugal emerged from a 48-year dictatorship by means of the Apr. 25, 1974 coup d’etat waged by leftwing army officers.

"After three decades, the last pending task of Apr. 25 has been completed: full rights for women," Professor Manuela Tavares, president of the Movement of Citizenship and Responsibility for the "Yes" vote, told IPS.

Over the last 32 years, the activist has become one of the leading voices of the women’s movement. Her struggle for the decriminalisation of abortion dates back to 1975, when at the age of 19 she held a protest in parliament, calling for a "mental" revolution among men, who she said should recognise women’s rights.

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Author: Mario de Queiroz
Source: Inter Press Service Agency