An abortion referendum took place in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

on 11 February 2007, to decide whether to legalise abortion up to ten weeks. The referendum was the fulfillment of an election pledge by the governing

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

of Prime Minister José Sócrates.Portugal will legalise abortion
" (12 February 2007). BBC News. Retrieved 12 February 2007. Official results of the referendum showed that 59.24% of the Portuguese approved the proposal put on ballot, while 40.76% rejected it. However, only 43.61% of the registered voters turned out to vote. Since voter turnout was below 50%, according to the Portuguese Constitution, these results are not legally binding, and parliament can legally decide to disregard them. Prime Minister Sócrates nevertheless confirmed that he would expand the circumstances under which abortion was allowed, since a majority of voters had been in favour. The law was ratified by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Aníbal Cavaco Silva Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, Order of Christ (Portugal), GCC, Order of Liberty, GColL, Order of Prince Henry, GColIH (; born 15 July 1939) is a Portuguese economist who served as the 19th president of Portugal, in office from 9 March 2006 to 9 ...

on 10 April 2007.

Question

The question in the referendum was: Under the current law, abortions are allowed up 12 weeks if the mother's life or mental or physical health is at risk, up to 16 weeks in cases of rape and up to 24 weeks if the child may be born with an incurable disease or deformity. The new law, approved on 9 March 2007, allows abortions on request up to the tenth week.

Political positions

The major parties in Portugal listed with their political positioning and their official answer to the referendum question: * Left **

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party ( pt, Partido Comunista Português, , PCP) is a communist, Marxist–Leninist political party in Portugal based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself patriotic and internationalist,Portu ...

– YES ** Left Bloc – YES **

Ecologist Party "The Greens" The Ecologist Party "The Greens" ( pt, Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes", , PEV) is a Portuguese eco-socialist political party. It is a member of the European Greens and a founding member of the European Federation of Green Parties. It was the ...

– YES **

– YES * Right **

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

– NEUTRAL (the party was divided, however, important members, including the then leader, Luís Marques Mendes, said NO) ** People's Party – NO

Opinion polling

A December 2006 Aximage/ Correio da Manhã poll had found that 61% of Portugal's electorate supported the proposal, 26% did not, and 12% were "not sure". An earlier survey from October 2006 had yielded similar results. However, a poll from mid-January 2007 had seen support drop to 38 to 28 in favour.Support Plummets for Portugal's Abortion Change
" (29 January 2007). ''Angus Reid Global Monitor''. Retrieved 12 February 2007.

Results

Results by district

History

In 1998 the same question had been put in another referendum. In this case a small majority voted no and the law was not implemented.

References

External links

Results of the referendum
{{Portuguese elections 2007 referendums Abortion referendum Abortion in Portugal Referendums in Portugal February 2007 events in Europe Abortion referendums