Portugal abortion vote likely invalid
Source: Reuters
(Recasts, updates throughout with exit polls) By Axel Bugge LISBON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - A referendum on legalising abortion in Portugal looked likely to fail on Sunday because of low voter turnout, exit polls said. Up to 57.4 percent of the electorate in the traditionally Catholic country abstained, according to an exit poll by Eurosondagem for SIC television channel. An exit poll by state RTP television channel and the Catholic University showed at least 56 percent of voters failed to turn out. If the turnout is below 50 percent the vote will be invalid, as was the case in a similar referendum in 1998 when only 32 percent of the electorate voted. It rained through the day in most parts of the country, discouraging voters. Opinion polls before Sunday had shown a majority of voters in favour of making abortion legal in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. "Referendums, contrary to normal elections, often deal with complex matters and people that are not politically motivated or informed have difficulty on taking the decision to vote," said Pedro Magalhaes, a pollster at the Catholic University. Full results were expected after 2000 GMT. Socialist Prime Minister Jose Socrates had campaigned to change a ban he says leads to thousands of clandestine abortions every year and which he has called "Portugal's most shameful wound". The campaign had pitted Catholics in one of Europe's most conservative countries against young urban liberals who had hoped to put their country on a par with most other European nations that allow abortions. If the ban remains in place, Portugal will continue to stand alongside a small group of European countries -- Malta, Irelend and Poland -- that ban abortions. Both camps had argued the current law treats women unfairly but pro-life campaigners had argued the state must find ways to help women have unwanted babies. Devout Catholics at the Sanctuary of Fatima north of Lisbon, where the Virgin Mary was reported to have appeared six times to three shepherd children in 1917, prayed for the unborn child on Sunday. "Born by God's will," read large posters with pictures of babies in front of the shrine. "We voted for life, which is our duty," said a nun as she left a polling booth near Fatima, Portugal's main Catholic site. Campaigners hoping to legalise abortion had focused on the estimated 23,000 clandestine abortions that take place every year. JAIL THREAT Under the current law women can be jailed if they abort and a few years ago a nurse who carried out abortions was sent to prison. The "yes" campaigns' message that legalisation could end back-street abortions appeared to be working on some. "I voted yes and will always vote yes," said Laurinda Duarte on her way to church. "Abortions will always take place so why not vote to allow women to carry them out under decent conditions? I am a Catholic but that does not mean I am not free to vote." Liberals, led by the urban young, hope Portugal would end a ban they see as antiquated. Catholic leaders had voiced concerns that a legalisation of abortion could sweep aside other traditional values in Portugal, which is western Europe's poorest country and one of its most conservative. "No" campaigners have said a vote to lift the ban will increase the number of abortions and raise state health costs. (Additional reporting by Henrique Almeida)
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