News from Portugal

A THANK YOU AND SOME VERY GOOD NEWS FROM PORTUGAL!

I am writing to thank you, once again, for supporting our campaign for the depenalisation of abortion in Portugal.

I am sorry for having taken so long to send you feedback about the press conference we held on January 24th to present the list of international organisations calling for a "Yes" vote in the referendum. As you can imagine, these last couple of weeks leading to the referendum were particularly busy and hectic, with several campaign actions planned all over the country. It was only this weekend, as the campaign came to an end, that we finally managed to put all the information together and send out feedback and reports.

And it is a HUGE honour and pleasure to tell you that not only was your support greatly appreciated by Portuguese pro-choice movements, but it was also very effective, because the YES WON THE REFERENDUM TODAY, with 59.25% of votes! From now on, women will be able to have abortions, on request, at a hospital during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, with no fear of criminal persecution.
The abstention rate was quite high (56,4%) and because less than 50% of registered voters participated in the referendum, its result is not legally binding. However, the Government has declared that this result is politically mandatory (binding), will be fully respected and that work to establish and implement a new Portuguese law on abortion will commence immediately.

This is a crucial step in the struggle for sexual and reproductive health and rights for women in Portugal and it is a very important day for our national pro-choice movement. We are therefore sincerely grateful for the support you have provided over the last month and are confident that you too will be happy with this victory of the "Yes!" in Portugal.

Below, you will find a more detailed report of the press conference and the support we received from all over the world.

Attached, you will find photos of the celebration of the victory of the "Yes", of the press conference in Lisbon and of the protest of the World March of Women in Switzerland and Spain. We also attached a slide with all the logos we received from several supportive organizations.

If you require additional or more detailed information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

If you publish articles about this on your website or email newsletter, it would be great if you could let me know, so that we can collate all this information.

Once again, thank you!

All the best,

Liliana Azevedo

Board Member of EWL

 

Portuguese Platform for Women's Rights

Contact :  lilianaazevedo@plataformamulheres.org.pt

 

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REPORT

 

In January, the Movement Citizenship and Responsibility for the YES, with the World March of Women and the Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights launched a call for international solidarity, contacting pro-choice organisations to ask for their support in the campaign for the depenalisation of abortion in Portugal, in preparation for the referendum on February 11^th. This international support was crucial because it would show the Portuguese people that individuals and organisations from all over the world were actively calling for a “Yes!” vote and were paying close attention to the campaign and result of the referendum.

 

We received messages of support from 21 European countries (Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Check Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Turkey) and 8 countries in America and Asia (Canada, USA, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Pakistan).

 

In total, 14 international NGOs, 109 national, regional or local NGOs and many individuals answered our call and expressed their support for the depenalisation of abortion.

 

These organisations and individuals expressed their solidarity in several ways, namely by

-          Allowing us to include their name and/or logo in the list of international supporting organisations

-          Organising demonstrations in front of Portuguese Embassies and Consulates (Paris, Barcelona and Bern on January 18^th, Vigo on February 1^st)

-          Sending letters to Portuguese Ambassadors

-          Sending press releases to media in their own country

-          Sending press releases to the Portuguese media

-          Publishing news about the referendum on their websites

-          And disseminating this call of solidarity within their networks

 

These actions were reported to the Portuguese public and media in a press conference held on January 24^th in Lisbon. This press conference was well attended by journalists and some articles were published in national newspapers on the following day.

The rest of the campaign was particularly active and lively, taking place in streets, newspapers, TV and on the Internet, especially through blogs and video sharing websites.

On 11th February, around 8.7 million electors were called to vote in the referendum on the depenalisation of abortion.

"Do you agree with the depenalisation of abortion if it is performed in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, at the request of the woman, in a legal medical establishment?", was the question they had to answer.

This was the second referendum on the issue. The first referendum took place on June 28th 1998, with the "No" winning with 50.07% of votes. The result was not binding because the abstention rate was higher than 50% (68.11% of the registered voters did not vote in the referendum).

Nineteen movements of citizens (5 for the “Yes” and 14 for the “No”) registered with the National Election Commission, with each of them managing to collect the 5.000 support signatures necessary to take part in the campaign, which took place from January 30^th until February 9^th.

The left wing parties also took part in the campaign, supporting the depenalisation. The Prime-Minister, from the Socialist Party, stressed the need to put an end to the shame of illegal and unsafe abortion. The pro-choice movements drew attention to the need to end distress and public humiliation, especially for women from less privileged backgrounds, as well as the importance of treating abortion as a sexual health concern and not a criminal issue.

According to the Portuguese Family Planning Association (APF), in 2005 18.000 illegal abortions were performed and 10.000 women had to receive emergency care in hospitals because of related to unsafe and illegal abortions. 6.5% of women who have aborted illegally have irreversible health problems, 10 women died due to abortion-related complications during the last three years.

The anti-choice movements argued that the depenalisation of abortion would increase the number of abortions as well as the expenses of the National Health Service. The Church also campaigned arguing that the depenalisation of abortion would put traditional values in danger.

Portugal had one of the more restrictive laws in Europe. Abortion was only possible in cases of rape, malformation of the foetus or high risk to the health of the woman. A woman convicted of receiving an illegal abortion faces a jail sentence of up to three years.

Since 1998, many women were taken to court and condemned - most of the time the judgments were deferred or the penalties were converted into mulct. Those trials were followed by millions of citizens in the newspapers and TV; which may have helped the pro-choice movements, underlining the anachronism of the Portuguese law on abortion.

11^th February 2007: Portuguese women finally acquire the right to legal and safe abortion till 10 weeks of pregnancy.