Woman's abortion experience shows how Portugal's strict laws hit the poor

[La_Serpiente]

Woman's abortion experience shows how Portugal's strict laws hit the poor

LISBON (AFP) - For this 45-year-old single mother, who had an abortion nearly two decades ago just as she was wrapping up her university studies, it is clear who is paying the price for Portugal's highly restrictive abortion laws -- poor women.

"Portuguese women who have money get abortions done at private clinics in London, in Spain or in other big cities abroad. But the poor have them done here in less than ideal conditions which are often dangerous," she told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the stigma she feels Portuguese society still slaps on women who abort.

The woman, who teaches economics at a public high school in Almada, a working class suburban Lisbon neighbourhood where she lives with her teenaged daughter, said she became pregnant at the age of 28 after the contraceptives she was using at the time failed.

"I did not want to keep the baby because my relationship with my partner was not going well," she said.

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Woman's abortion experience shows how Portugal's strict laws hit the poor

[SheilaT]

1. Just as it used to be here

prior to January 22, 1973. Well off women were always able to go somewhere to get an abortion, or find a doctor who could come up with a reason to do a D&C. Even today, abortions are more readily available in certain parts of the country, which means if a woman can't spare a couple of days to got to an abortion clinic hundreds of miles away, she may be out of luck.

We've been in the process of turning back to the pre Roe v Wade days here and not a lot of people are paying attention.