When Was Abortion Legalised in Portugal
About two to three weeks after the end of pregnancy, a third medical examination must be performed, which is essential for a successful abortion. It guarantees that everything went well for the woman, both physically and mentally. In February 2016, the Portuguese parliament overturned Aníbal Cavaco Silva`s veto and officially repealed a law introducing mandatory counselling and medical payments for women who wish to have an abortion through the public health service, which had been imposed by the previous conservative government when it was already on vacation before the October 2015 elections and did not have the power to enact laws. [13] The president signed the law into law on February 19, 2016. [14] [15] It is unclear whether the Department of Health will approve the new criteria. On Tuesday, Health Minister Marta Temido told parliament that the right to abortion was guaranteed in Portugal. Questioned by Catarina Martins, coordinator of the Left Bloc (BE), Temido explained that the measure considers voluntary abortions “as a failure in the monitoring of family planning by health professionals. They all know that an abortion punishes women physically and mentally. In 2004, when the country was governed by a coalition between the Social Democratic Party and the People`s Party, four legalisation laws (by PCP, PS, PEV, BE) were rejected, as well as three new referendum proposals by PS, BE and a citizens` petition. [6] Several media cases related to abortion trials in Maia, Aveiro, Setúbal and Lisbon, as well as a controversy surrounding the visit of a Women on Waves boat to Portugal, kept the abortion debate going and led to the 2007 referendum in which the legalization movement won.
[6] Abortion was illegal in Portugal until 1984. Even today, the Portuguese Penal Code considers abortion a crime against intrauterine life. Over the years, Portuguese legislation has included various grounds for legal abortion. First, in 1984, the Assembly of the Republic decided to authorize legal abortion in situations of serious maternal and foetal diseases, rape and, more broadly, crimes against sexual self-determination. These situations have therefore been accepted in the Portuguese health system for 35 years. At the end of the consultation before the abortion, the second consultation for the abortion is scheduled. At least half of U.S. states are now expected to abrogate their right to abortion because the constitutional right to abortion no longer exists. Asked about the U.S. Supreme Court`s decision to overturn Roe v.
Wade on Friday, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa preferred “not to comment on a decision of a sovereign body”. Other politicians, such as Prime Minister Antonio Costa, have taken a firmer stance. The abortion process begins with the so-called prior consultation. Since legalization in 2007, the number of legal abortions initially increased from 18,607 in 2007 to 20,480 in 2011, but has since declined steadily to 15,492 in 2017. [7] About two-thirds of all abortions currently take place in women between the ages of 20 and 34. [7] In 2015, Portugal tightened its abortion laws after religious groups led to legislative changes. A mandatory three-day waiting period is now referred to as the “cooling-off period.” Psychological counselling prior to termination of pregnancy was recommended. Parliament also adopted other amendments to the abortion law, including requiring women to receive psychological and social counselling, as well as family planning counselling, before terminating a pregnancy. As explained above, Portugal has only recently extended the scope of the abortion law. In summary, it can be said that under Law No. 16/2007, abortion can currently be performed in official or officially recognized health facilities, provided that: Only in very special situations is hospitalization necessary.
In most cases, an abortion, whether surgical or medical, is performed on an outpatient basis without hospitalization. Marcelo says that “this turning point in the Supreme Court leads to a conservative position in the case of weapons and a doctrinaire position, I will not say ideological, in the case of abortion.” Every woman has access to a public referral hospital where she can have an abortion through her place of residence. So the first step is to find out which hospital is near you. For more information, call your health centre, Linha Saúde 24 (808 24 24 24) or Sexualidade em Linha da APF / IPDJ (800 222 003). You`ll have knowledgeable people online who will tell you where to go. In 1984, the Socialist Party passed a law allowing abortion in certain cases: mental or physical health reasons, rape and sexual crimes, fetal malformations. [5] [6] This would be the first time in Portugal that a law exempts abortion from any sanction in certain situations. [7] In 1997, a new law extended the period during which abortions could be performed in cases of fetal malformations (from 16 to 24 weeks) and in cases of rape (from 12 to 16 weeks). [6] Although the abortion laws in Portugal, when these two laws were in force, were relatively similar to those in neighboring Spain, in practice the law in Portugal was interpreted much more strictly than in Spain, making it quite difficult to obtain a legal abortion. [8] [6] The period between the appointment and the consultation before the abortion should not exceed 5 days and the woman can be alone or choose someone to accompany her in the consultation.