The Prime Minister and leader of the PSD said today that he was against making abortion a fundamental right, as recommended by the European Parliament on Thursday, because it would cause a “legal imbalance” by giving precedence only to a woman’s right to self-determination.
“The enshrinement of the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy as a fundamental right creates an imbalance in the legal system, because it means that of the two rights that were in conflict [the woman’s right to self-determination and the right to the protection of the life of the unborn child], in the end, only one will fully prevail, which means the disappearance of the other,” said Luís Montenegro in parliament today, during the debate in preparation for the European Council on Wednesday and Thursday of next week.
The head of government was responding to a question from PAN MP Inês Sousa Real about the vote in the European Parliament, which on Thursday approved a historic recommendation to include all women’s sexual and reproductive rights, including the right to abortion, in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (EU), with treaty status.
“My party and I are not advocating that,” said Montenegro.
The Prime Minister stressed that this matter “is not a government issue, it is an individual issue”.
“There are two conflicting rights: the woman’s right to self-determination and the right to protect the life of the unborn child. The process of voluntary termination of pregnancy is the way, the legal commitment to resolve this conflict. In legal systems there are conditions, requirements, for the adoption of procedures for the voluntary termination of pregnancy: circumstance, factual provision or even a deadline,” she said.
The European Parliament resolution was adopted with 336 votes in favor, 163 against and 39 abstentions and in the document MEPs demand that the right to abortion be enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, a demand that has been made for a long time.
The European Parliament has condemned the backtracking on women’s rights in several countries, including the 27 member states of the EU bloc, in particular the imposition of restrictions on abortion and sexual and reproductive healthcare.
MEPs want Article 3 of the EU bloc’s Charter of Fundamental Rights to be amended to include that “everyone has the right to autonomy over his or her body and to free, informed, full and universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, and to all related health services, without discrimination, including access to safe and legal abortion”.