A subsidy of over 500 euros to all mothers-to-be. This is the idea put forward by “Não Obrigada”, the most visible lay movement in the recent referendum campaign for voting "no" to abortion in Portugal. It is the amount of money that would be spent to pay for each abortion to be performed in the public hospital facilities, which, according to the Portuguese Health Ministry, must be around 500 to 750 euros. The issue of abortion, states one of the leaders of the movement, the GP João Paulo Malta, “must not be considered finally settled, and keeps dividing society, since the majority of the Portuguese (56%) decided not to vote at all". The platform leaders highlight the informative efforts made all over the country, "which proved the national scale of the movement against abortion”. Isilda Pegado too expresses satisfaction for "such assertion of citizenship, the originator of civic movements independent of political parties, that has escalated to unprecedented dimensions in the history of Portuguese democracy”. The actions developed for the referendum include (www.vidascomvida.org) "Lives with life”, a project offering information on how to address pregnancy and maternity problems: “such commitment will not end as long as there is even one single mother who, due to lack of information and support, will be led to abort".
