Portugal is presently governed by a majority in parliament that is as an obstacle to any progressive legal action regarding the legalization of abortion. At the same time, the current government is trying to impose, at the state level, values that contradict constitutional rights and reproductive rights laws already in place.
After a very well publicized trial last year in the city of Maia, seven women were recently taken to court in Aveiro accused of practicing illegal abortions. This situation is, in our opinion, an attack against women’s rights and dignity and a humiliating exhibition of these women’s private lives by publicly exposing their intimacy and questioning their integrity. The court has declared these women innocent of the charges and the case is being taken to the Superior Court.
Our movement, the Young Communists of Portugal (Juventude Comunista Portuguesa-JCP), has been working throughout this process to create and support a public movement of solidarity for these women demanding their acquittal. An example of this movement is the International Declaration of Solidarity, signed by diverse international youth organizations, demanding that the sovereign democratic and political powers in Portugal end the harsh penalization of abortion, in the name of the health of Portuguese women and for responsible and conscientious motherhood.
In Portugal, the Catholic Church is still an important part of family life and has been working with right-wing parties to create movements that go against progress in women’s reproductive rights. These movements have created taboo and prejudice around reproductive rights and use propaganda and lies to keep abortion illegal. An example is the Right to Life Movement that presently has an agreement with the Education Ministry to teach sexual education in public schools. Among other things, these classes teach students that birth control should not be used except for “natural methods.�
We believe that public opinion movements around abortion rights have contributed to showing that the present law is out-of-date and that illegal abortion poses terrible health, life and liberty risks, especially for working class and poor women.
Regardless of public lies and reactionary speeches against abortion, we believe that, especially among younger women, there is a bigger consciousness of their right to choose and of the injustice and discrimination that the current repression presents.
We cannot state that all women are informed about this problem or that all share our opinion, but we hope that our effort and commitment contributes to the clarification and conquest of the right to choose in a conscious and responsible manner.
In the last couple of years, students in the public school system have hit the streets demanding better education. Among their requests has been the implementation of a 1984 law that establishes sex-ed and has not yet been enforced.
In regards to women’s rights, Portugal is still very much behind the times and we are now facing a change in labor law that will take away rights previously granted to women workers. Without these rights, granted to workers after the democratic revolution in 1974, women will lose maternity and family privileges. This government is basically stating that the woman’s place is to stay at home raising children and not in the work force. Every day this right-wing government is revoking workers’ rights, especially the ones regarding female workers.
From JCP’s perspective, the struggle to legalize abortion means a serious fight against preconceptions and the current point of view that not only criminalizes and stigmatizes women that have had abortions but also lives comfortably with the hellish reality of clandestine abortion.
JCP believes the issue of illegal abortion must be handled with courage and determination and that this criminalization offends the most basic rights and represents an aggression to Portuguese women.
JCP has fought, through campaigns and various activities, for reproductive and sexual rights like the legalization of abortion, the implementation of mandatory sexual education in public schools, and easy and universal access to birth control and family planning.
Our actions have supported the concept that human sexuality is an essential component of happiness and personal realization, and that it should not be subjected to moral or value-based judgments.
We will continue to fight for the right to dignity, respect and tolerance against inhumanity, repressive taboos, obscurantism and retrograde ideas about women’s role in the world and in society.
Young Communists of Portugal
Juventude Comunista Portuguesa (JCP)
www.jcp-pt.org
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