The President of the PSD assured this Wednesday that the Democratic Alliance (AD) will not change the law on abortion in the next legislature, given that it is a neat issue and that the position of Paulo Nuncio is binding only for him.
“This issue is absolutely resolved. We will not have any interference in this area in the next legislature,” Luis Montenegro told reporters in Costa da Caparica, Almada municipality, Setubal district, before the start of the election campaign. Democratic Alliance (AD) lunch.
Asked about the position of CDS-PP vice-president Paulo Nuncio, the fourth AD candidate in the Lisbon circle, in favor of a new referendum on voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG), the PSD president referred to it as “an individual expression and only to oblige and bind the doctor Paulo Nuncio.”
“The Portuguese want to know what [posição] and AD obligations, and this is very clear: we will not change this legislation. It’s so simple,” added Luis Montenegro.
Asked if the AD, if it gains a majority in parliament, would be willing to approve measures related to access to IVG, as was the case in the 2011-2015 legislature, the PSD president replied: “We are not going to do that, apart from complying with the law, to provide Portuguese women with all the conditions to be able, within the limits established by law, to make decisions in a well-informed, planned manner, in a manner that is safe for their health. “.
Earlier in Lisbon, PSD-PP President Nuno Melo said that “this topic is not a topic that appears in the coalition agreement” between his party, PSD and PPM, “it is not a topic for discussion.” the next legislature.”
In a debate organized by the Portuguese Federation for Life, CDS-PP vice-president Paulo Nuncio defended holding a new referendum on the IVG, reports Rádio Renascença.
“We must be able to take the initiative to restrict access to abortion and try to call a new referendum as soon as possible to repeal this law, which is a deeply unfair law,” said the former Secretary of State for Finance and AD candidate in the special election in legislature March 10.
Asked whether Paulo Nuncio’s position could harm the AD campaign, Luis Montenegro said no, but admitted that it “creates a small point of contention here” and that “it would be better if there was no noise” in conveying the message of the PSD coalition ./CDS-PP/PPM.
At the same time, he relativized differences of opinion, viewing them as a sign of “freedom of thought” within the SDP and AD.
“Even if we were talking about an SDP activist, and many people think the same way, we are like this: we have freedom of thought, we have freedom of expression. The Portuguese want to know what I think. [posição] and commitment to AD,” he said.
In a debate organized by the Portuguese Federation for Life, Paulo Nuncio argued that “once the liberalization of abortion has been approved by a referendum – although not binding, but of political significance – it is very difficult to repeal a law approved by Parliament.” .
“I think the only way we can get abortion liberalization is through a referendum, a new referendum, that we can win like we won in ’98,” he added.
On the other hand, the former Secretary of State stated that “in 2015, the SDP and SDS government – then it was PAF, well, it was AD, but it had a different name – was one of the first governments in the world to take measures to make access more difficult to abortion.”
“True, it was not possible to repeal the law, but a set of measures were adopted, which were soon canceled by the PS,” he emphasized.
The measures mentioned were approved by the majority of the PSD/CDS-PP at the last plenary session of the 2011-2015 legislature and included fees for IVG practice and the obligation to provide counseling on psychology and family planning.
In the first referendum in 1998, “no” to the decriminalization of IVG administered at the request of a woman in the first ten weeks of pregnancy received 50.91% of the vote. In the second referendum in 2007, the vote in favor received 59.25%.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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