Yesterday, Portugal's president Anibal Cavaco Silva ratified a law allowing women to obtain abortions until the 10th week of pregnancy.
The abortion law, which the Roman Catholic church in Portugal fiercely opposed, will come into force when the government publishes it in official records, probably next month.The old law was among the most restrictive in Europe. It allowed the procedure in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy only if a mother's health was at risk; in cases of rape, a termination was permitted up to and including the 16th week. The government hopes the new law will put an end to dangerous illegal abortions.
Women’s health organizations say that approximately 10,000 women in Portugal need to be hospitalized every year with complications from illegal abortions.
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Only up to the tenth week, though?
According to Guttmacher, then, 78.5 percent of abortions occur within that timeframe. (In the United States.) That's a lot, but it still seems like the laws are very restrictive.
Also this part is a little silly:
"Some campaigners have been pushing for a reduction in the limit. Last year a new, sophisticated type of scan that showed 12-week-old foetuses sucking their thumbs and appearing to walk reignited debate about the time limit."
Appearing to walk with no ground? Have these people not heard of reflexive motions?
Appearing to walk? Dude, actual babies can't walk. (Although if you hold a three month old up, it'll pick its feet up and put them down in walking-like motions.)
"Only up to the tenth week, though?"
Give 'em an inch and they want a mile. Heh! :)
Is it just me or is the Catholic church one of the most retrograde institutions on the planet? Don't mean to religion bash, but in so many countries with large Catholic populations where women are fighting for the right to abortion the Church manages to butt its institutional nose into what should be an issue of sovereign democratic rights exercised by ALL the state's citizens. Glad to see Portugal's female citizens and enlightened members of government and civil society were able to gain a step in the right direction. Hope other countries follow suit (like ahem, the USA) and I hope religious institutions- yeah, i know Catholics aren't the only ones- learn to mind their own biz and respect hard fought democratic and personal rights.
Dia bom! My family is from the Azores, which are still subject to Portuguese law, and any step towards progress is such good news. Portugal has been a funny place since the fascist government was overthrown, because most of the leftists have since emigrated and social conservatism still runs strong, hence the ten-week limitation...but this is such an improvement over a few years ago when you had a Portuguese bishop describing a pregnancy caused by rape as a wonderful opportunity for martyrdom that shouldn't be rejected lightly. As my grandmother, who had thirteen kids before she emigrated and decided that she didn't need to have that fourteenth one in America, would say: "Queres bananas?" ("Want some bananas?" or in her funny old-world feminist translation: "Are you enjoying the ambient patriarchy?")
whoo hoo! what excellent news :) sure it's restrictive, but you have to start somewhere.
is it poor form to make a "baby steps" joke, considering the whole appearing-to-walk nonsense?
ah heck, a baby step is better than no step at all. 10 weeks is early, but keeping even SOME of those 10,000 women safer than they would be outside the law? yes yes yes yes.