Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lisbon (Agenzia Fides) - Portugal reaffirms its determination to defend human life. On Sunday 28 January in Lisbon some 20,000 people braved icy rain to take part in a peaceful and happy demonstration to defend the life of the unborn child, said Lola Velarde, president of the European network of Family Policy Institutes present at the March organised by the Portuguese Association of Large Families (see Fides 16/1/2007).
No less than 160 Pro Life associations from different countries all over the world, including France, Italy and Spain, expressed support for the march organised in 7 stages to mark the stages of life: conception, birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age.
At the last stage of the March a particularly moving testimony was given by a Spanish woman Ms Esperanza Puente who shared her terrible experience of having an abortion and the remorse and suicidal depression which followed. Ms Puente called on governments not to deceive women about abortion but offer them alternatives instead. The event concluded with the singing of the Hymn to Life preceded by a minute of listening in awe to the throbbing heartbeat of a ten week old child in its mother’s womb.
Portugal will vote on February 11 in a referendum to liberalise abortion. Two previous votes to render abortion legal in more cases resulted in a no vote. Under the present 1984 law on the interruption of pregnancy, illegal abortion is punished with three years detention for the woman who has the abortion and from 2 to 8 years for the doctor or midwife who performs it but reports it before the 12th week if the pregnancy is the fruit of rape or if the mother’s life is in danger. The February 11 referendum will ask voters if they agree with the legalization of abortion on demand until the 10th week of pregnancy (RG) (Agenzia Fides 30/1/2007; righe 25, parole 346)
