PORTUGAL
A new law on the voluntary interruption of pregnancy was proposed in recent days by the political parties that took a position in favour of ‘yes’ in the referendum of 11 February on the de-penalization of abortion in Portugal. The parties in question, PS, PCP, Left coalition (BE) and Greens (PEV), have in fact reached an agreement on the terms of the new law on the voluntary interruption of pregnancy. The Socialist leader, Mario Martins, declared that “the bill has the objective of permitting women to take a free, responsible and conscientious decision”. The parliamentary spokesman further specified that the bill would provide for “a compulsory medical check up, optional counselling of psychological and social type, a minimum period of reflection of three days”, followed by “the initiation of family planning”. The new bill must now be discussed and voted on by the Constitutional Affairs Committee, whose chairman Osvaldo Castro has announced that its examination will only begin next week to permit the various parties to properly analyse it and propose any amendments. Isilda Pegado, President of the Portuguese Pro-Life Federation (FPV), considers this bill “the most fundamentalist that exists in Europe, and wholly contrary to the promises made during the referendum by the coalition in favour of ‘yes'”. “The three-day period of reflection” must be considered “a joke” – said Pegado – since “a reflection unaccompanied by concrete proposals to a mother in difficulty is pointless”. Moreover, “the opportunity offered to the woman to have access to counselling, since it is optional, instead of providing alternatives of social and economic character and playing a dissuasive role, serves no practical purpose and would lead to the complete liberalization of abortion”. In Pegado’s view, another “grave situation” presented by the bill is “the establishment of a national list of doctors as conscientious objectors”, which “constitutes a very serious form of public stigmatisation”. The Pro-Life Movements will analyse any changes proposed to the new legislation in Parliament and promise strong public resistance to the bill.
