Posted on 04/22/2005 1:03:22 PM PDT by Siobhan
FRONT PAGE STORY - 23/04/2005
Abortion referendum approved
Abortions up to the tenth week of pregnancy were approved late Wednesday afternoon by the Portuguese Parliament. But the country’s lawmakers also decided that for the law decree proposal to come into force, a referendum on the matter would have to be held.
While voting went as planned for the majority centre-left Socialists (PS), internal squabbling within the ruling party saw at least forty MP’s call for a revision to the party’s law proposal.
These ‘dissident’ MP’s, which make up a third of the party’s parliamentary seats, presented a declaration saying that while they were in favour of the law, they were against allowing women to have legal abortions up to 16 weeks of pregnancy.
Initial reports suggest that these 40 MP’s have succeeded, and abortions, if approved in a referendum, will only be permitted up to ten weeks of pregnancy.
The proposal for the staging of a referendum on legalising abortions was approved by the Socialists and the Left Bloc, while the Social Democrats (PSD) opted to abstain. The Christian Democrats and the Communists voted against the staging of a referendum, though the latter did so as they felt abortions should be approved without consulting the electorate.
The final stumbling block in the staging of a referendum is when it is held, with the PSD calling for it to be held in 2006.
With Cavaco Silva (a member of the PSD) being the odds-on favourite to win the presidential elections next January, a referendum could be delayed indefinitely should outgoing President Jorge Sampaio fail to announce a date before his term finishes at the end of this year.
The Portuguese defeated early abortion on demand in a referendum in 1998, but that vote was considered void because less than half the electorate participated.
Currently, abortion is permitted only under highly restricted circumstances through the 12th week of pregnancy.
Officials say some 10,000 women are admitted yearly to hospital for complications resulting from botched clandestine abortions.
The question approved for referendum is: "Do you agree that an abortion performed during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, with the consent of the woman in a legal medical establishment, cease being viewed as a crime"?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=french+abortion+laws&btnG=Google+Search
This link just worked for me.
It discusses the French abortion law, including RU-486.
The law is quite restrictive, and RU-486 abortions are regulated by it just as all other abortions are.
Actually, I apologize again for the link.
I inadvertantly posted the google search window, instead of the link itself.
If you go to the fifth entry down, "Grounds on which abortion is permitted...", you will come to the abortion laws of France.
The article is about the law in Portugal. What is the RU486 usage in Portugal?
We must pray for the faithful in Portugal. They have always been tested violently by the enemies of Our Lord and Our Lady. But the faithful have never departed from the faith regardless of what their government has done.
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I'm going to sound like a real heartless, b---h here, but... So what? If people die in the process of committing an immoral and illegal act, it's sad, but the government shouldn't turn around and make it legal so less people will die. People die from alcohol-related auto accidents all the time; it doesn't mean we should legalize drunk driving.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
How is it possible that they will go ahead with this knowing all that they now know about fetal develoopment? Are they not privy to pictures of a 10 week old baby?
And, I'm sorry, but if a girl goes looking for an abortion illegal or otherwise, and is herself hurt in the process, that is not the greater tragedy here. That she tried and succeeded to kill her baby, with a gun for hire is the real tragedy.
Oh for the days when a girl's Daddy came looking for the father of his unwed daughter's baby, waving a 12-guage.
Thank you. This is valuable information.
prayer bump
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