Against civilization

The definitive version of Portugal’s new law on abortion (Law 16/2007 of 17 April) was published in the Diário da República (Official Gazzette) on 21 June. Amending article 142 of the Penal Code, it permits the interruption of pregnancy, “by choice of the woman”, down to the 10th week of the life of the foetus, in compliance with the result of the referendum held on the question on 11 February. Ministerial decree n° 741-A/2007, which will come into force on 15 July, defines the administrative procedures and the technical and logistic conditions for the realization of the voluntary interruption of pregnancy in public or officially recognized health structures, and the type of information that must be provided to the woman. Of the recommendations contained in the message with which the President of the Portuguese Republic Aníbal Cavaco Silva had accompanied the promulgation of the law, the current regulation has only taken on board the suggestion regarding the medical indication of the possible consequences of abortion on the physical and psychological health of the mother. It ignores, on the other hand, information on the possibility of adoption, substituted by a vague declaration of the State’s support for the protection of maternity and paternity. Nor is any reference made to the advisability of showing to the woman an echography of the foetus in one of the crucial phases of the gestation. SOME POINTS OF THE DECREE. In short, the ministerial decree specifies that “the woman shall be obliged, within five days of the presentation of her request for an abortion, to submit to a preventive medical examination, choosing if she wishes to be accompanied by another person”. “During this consultation, the physician, or other qualified medical professional, must provide all the necessary information, preferably clarified through written explanations, on the times and conditions of pregnancy, and on the methods of its interruption, suited to the case in question”. Proof that the pregnancy does not exceed the ten-week deadline must be certified by a physician other than the one under whose direction the abortion shall be performed” and “even those doctors who plead conscientious objection must direct the woman to the competent services for the voluntary interruption of pregnancy within the terms laid down by the law”. During “the obligatory three-day period of reflection, if the mother should request it, provision must also be made for a service of counselling by a psychologist or social worker”. The document then goes into the specific aspects regarding methods, times and procedures. AbortION AS “ABSOLUTE RIGHT”. “It’s a decree against civilization and against man, and not in favour of a more humanistic and decent society”, declared Isilda Pegado, President of the Portuguese Pro-Life Federation: “This ministerial regulation is not constitutionally admissible for a law of this importance; it is a mere act of current management of the public administration, whereas fundamental human rights are here at stake”. Reacting to the contents of the document, the representative of Portugal’s pro-life movement notes that “the father is totally ignored: in the medical consultation provision is only made for the presence of a third person”. She also points out that “the woman’s assent is required in written form, but only after a mere oral consultation devoid of any kind of control. She criticises “the destruction of the data on the abortion process after only three months, whereas this information ought to be preserved”. She accuses the law of “aiding and abetting clinics and private businesses in the practice of abortion”, and concludes that “exemption from the costs that could mitigate recourse to the voluntary interruption of pregnancy is the confirmation that abortion is now considered an absolute right”. João Paulo Malta, obstetrician and gynaecologist, says “the decree privileges a certain type of intervention: it facilitates abortion, but does not support in the same way other clinical interventions, such as those in favour of the chronically sick”. As regards the “very grave problem of conscientious objection”, he comments: “This regulation imposes a type of conduct whose rejection has already been demonstrated by the medical profession: to the obligation imposed also on conscientious objectors to direct women to the services in which abortion is practiced, doctors will respond through their own organizations”. The Portuguese Pro-Life Federation and all those who share the defence of fundamental human rights have announced they will continue to “work to form consciences against the spirit of laws like this, which offers free abortion to a woman placed under pressure. The culture that these laws express makes it more difficult to win the demographic battle and to induce the State to implement the constitutional imperative of the defence of life, the family and the promotion of the dignity of the human person”.