THE PARLIAMENTARY Health Commission has decided to proceed with an abortion study that will cost 400,000 euros. The survey, entitled ‘The Reality of Abortion’, will be a comprehensive survey of voluntary interruptions to pregnancy in Portugal.
The President of the Assembly, Jaime Gama, had said that the study’s cost and the possibility of a forthcoming referendum on abortion were reasons for deputies to reconsider carrying out the survey. But Socialist deputy, Luís Carito, disagreed: “We understand the preoccupations of the Assembly President in relation to costs, particularly in view of the current economic situation, but we do not believe that these concerns justify cancelling the survey.” He stressed that greater public awareness about abortions in Portugal was fundamental to the debate.
The study is a project that has been dragging its feet since 2002 and was first proposed by Socialist deputy Helena Roseta.
