1998 Portuguese abortion referendum

On 28 June 1998 a referendum on a new abortion law was conducted in Portugal; it was the second national referendum in the Portuguese history and the first after the 1974 Carnation Revolution. The law was proposed by the Portuguese Communist Party and it decriminalized abortion during the first ten weeks of pregnancy and was considered by the left as the only way to put an end to the estimated 20 to 50 thousand illegal abortions in the country. The law was approved in the Assembly of the Republic through a majority of the center-left and left-wing parties, but an agreement between the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party parties leaders led to the referendum.

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The referendum was held on a summer day, which is said to have contributed to the fact that the turnout was so low that it didn't pass the threshold of 50 percent of the voters needed to make the decision binding, although the winning answer, NO, was respected and the law wasn't changed, meaning abortion was only allowed in exceptional case (such as rape, mal-formations of the fetus and danger to the women's health). In the following years, a few dozen women (a small minority of the estimated illegal abortions) were defendants in three trials for abortion.

A revote occurred in the 2007 Portuguese abortion referendum, where the result was reversed.

The question present in the ballots was: "Do you agree with the decriminalization of the voluntary interruption of the pregnancy, if it takes place in the first 10 weeks and in an authorized healthcare institution?"

Political positions

The major parties in Portugal at the time listed with their political positioning and their official answer to the referendum question:

Opinion polling

All polls published showed an advantage for the YES side, but official results showed a 51% to 49% win for the NO side. Late deciders and a low turnout may explain this result. Note, until 2000, the publication of opinion polls in the last week of the campaign was forbidden.

Last day Polling Polling Firm Sample size Direct Intention of Vote Valid Vote
YYes NNo Undecided Lead YYes NNo Lead
28 Jun Universidade Católica/RTP Exit Poll N/A N/A N/A N/A 47–53 46–52 1.0
19 Jun Universidade Católica 3,123 N/A N/A N/A N/A 53.2 46.8 6.4
17 Jun Metris 1,006 44.4 41.6 13.4 2.8 52.0 48.0 2.0
14 Jun Moderna 1,441 54.4 35.5 10.1 18.9 61.0 39.0 22.0
9 Jun SIC/Visão 843 58.1 40.0 1.9 18.1 59.0 41.0 18.0
27 May Euroexpansão 644 81.0 13.0 6.0 68.0 86.0 14.0 72.0
24 May Moderna 1,434 55.6 33.1 11.4 22.5 63.0 37.0 26.0
21 May SIC/Visão 2,007 60.9 36.7 2.5 24.2 62.0 38.0 24.0
20 May Metris 1,008 46.9 43.9 9.1 3.0 52.0 48.0 4.0
5 May Universidade Católica 1,293 60.9 30.3 8.8 30.6 67.0 33.0 34.0
1 May SIC/Visão 709 63.1 35.3 1.6 27.8 64.0 36.0 28.0
8 Apr Metris 1,998 48.7 41.3 9.9 7.4 54.0 46.0 8.0
1998

Results
Most voted answer per district (Azores and Madeira not shown).
No: 1,356,754 (50.91%) Yes: 1,308,130 (49.09%)
▲
Portuguese abortion referendum, 1998
Choice Votes %
No 1,356,754 50.91
Yes 1,308,130 49.09
Valid votes 2,664,884 98.35
Invalid or blank votes 44,619 1.65
Total votes 2,709,503 100.00
Registered voters and turnout 8,496,089 31.89
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Results by district
DistrictTurnoutYes voteNo voteYes %No %
Azores 27.21 8,422 40,545 17.20 82.80
Aveiro 30.63 53,657 112,621 32.27 67.73
Beja 22.96 25,477 7,114 78.17 21.83
Braga 39.55 55,770 189,555 22.73 77.27
Bragança 28.58 10,899 30,621 26.25 73.75
Castelo Branco 28.78 25,341 28,330 47.22 52.78
Coimbra 27.33 52,487 46,649 52.94 47.06
EvoraÉvora 26.67 28,137 10,417 78.38 21.62
Faro 22.38 46,519 20,331 69.59 30.41
Guarda 31.99 15,836 37,145 29.89 70.11
Leiria 29.40 50,939 54,612 48.26 51.73
Lisbon 34.36 416,285 191,342 68.51 31.49
Madeira 32.76 15,681 49,733 23.97 76.03
Portalegre 24.14 17,879 8,537 67.68 32.32
Porto 33.39 192,100 261,211 42.38 57.62
Santarém 29.83 63,273 48,581 56.57 43.43
Setúbal 33.37 169,742 37,534 81.89 18.11
Viana do Castelo 34.09 19,365 54,506 26.21 73.79
Vila Real 31.28 15,907 50,453 23.97 76.03
Viseu 30.37 24,891 77,861 24.22 75.78
Source: Direcção Geral da Administração Interna

References
  • "CNE Resultados". Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 17 May 2005.
  • "Centro de Estudos do Pensamento Político". Archived from the original on 2006-08-18. Retrieved 17 May 2005.

See also
  • Abortion by country
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