WOMEN IN Portugal will be able to have abortions in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy following legislation that become effective on July 15.
The new law was published in Diário da República, the government’s official newspaper on June 21 after being ratified by the president of the republic, Cavaco Silva.
The law comes into effect after a long period of public discussion, which ended with a national referendum on February 11.
It allows women to choose abortion as an alternative method of contraception but only in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
It will be possible to carry out abortion procedures in any public or private Portuguese hospital, but state financial support for the treatment is only available if carried out in public health units.
According to this new legislation, women will not have to pay the usual hospital taxes for their abortions in state units.
This decision has been severely criticised by the most conservative parties and also by the Catholic members of the Socialist Party, which governs the country. They consider it as “scandalous”, hence it is not the case of a chronic disease.
To help women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy, Infarmed, the national authority on the medical issues, has authorised state hospitals to buy Mifepristone, better known as the abortion pill.
Although available in pharmacies, public hospitals had, in the past, to ask for a special authorisation from the Health Ministry to use the medicine.
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