Portugal's Upcoming Referendum on Abortion

From Women's eNews: Portugal Tests European Stance on Abortion, by Meghan Sapp:

Voters in Portugal will cast their ballots Feb. 11 on a referendum to legalize abortions during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

The vote is part of a controversy also building in Ireland, Poland and Malta, the three other countries in the 27-member European Union that ban abortion. In addition to legislative initiatives such as referenda, advocates are also tussling with governments in national and international courts.

In Portugal, a woman can be prosecuted for obtaining an illegal abortion.  Anti-choice advocates in the United States typically do not call for the prosecution of women who seek abortion, thus undermining their own assertion that the fetus is a person.  But while Portugal's stance may be more consistent in this regard, its law has an exception for rape, which is also incompatible with the position that a fetus is a person.  Read more about Portugal's abortion laws at Women on Waves.

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