Portugal seems poised to legalize abortion

Portugal, Ireland, Malta, and Poland are the only remaining countries in the 27-member European Union to have tight restrictions on abortion. Catholic News Agency reports:

Portugal's Socialist Prime Minister Jose Socrates conceded late Feb. 11 that despite his party’s tremendous efforts to grant broader access to abortion in the country, a pro-abortion referendum has failed to pass due to insufficient voter participation.

With nearly all the votes counted, the referendum, which would have legalized abortion for whatever reason, up until the 10th week of pregnancy, had gained 58 percent of the vote.

However, despite a multi-million dollar campaign on the part of the abortion industry and the socialist government, only 44 percent of the country’s 8.9 million registered voters participated. Under Portuguese law, a referendum must involve over half of the country’s registered voters in order to pass.

Socrates, for his part, says he will remain undeterred in his quest to change the law in Portugal. With the failure of his referendum, the prime minister has vowed to legalize abortion by way of parliament, a body over which his Socialist party holds strong control.

I hope my interpretation is wrong, but it seems inevitable.