Portugal turns away Dutch abortion activists' boat

Citing local laws and public health concerns, the government said yesterday it turned away a Dutch boat bringing abortion rights activists to Portugal, where they intended to offer abortion-inducing pills to local women.

The boat, operated by the Dutch volunteer group Women on Waves, had asked to dock in Portugal today. The group said it intended to stay for two weeks and would provide abortion pills under certain medical conditions and offer counselling to local women.

Abortion-inducing pills are prohibited in this mostly Roman Catholic country, where abortion laws are among the most restrictive in Europe. Portugal forbids abortion on demand.

Termination of pregnancies is allowed only under certain circumstances, including rape or medical need, through the 12th week of pregnancy.

Nuno Fernandes Thomaz, secretary of state for maritime issues, said the government on Friday informed the boat's captain, its owner and the Dutch consul that the ship could not enter Portuguese waters.

"We know what this boat was coming here to do: it was coming to break Portuguese law, to encourage or incite illegal acts," Fernandes Thomaz told Lisbon radio station TSF.

"This is more a legal issue than a moral issue," he said.

"Firstly, we have to ensure that Portuguese law is respected...Secondly, we have to protect public health," Fernandes Thomaz said.

The boat was off the northwest coast of Spain yesterday and was still heading toward Portugal.

Michelle Voogd, a representative in Portugal of Women on Waves, said the group was mulling its reaction to the government's decision.

"We are working on it with our lawyers," Voogd said by telephone.

The Amsterdam-based group had said local women who wanted abortion-inducing pills would board the boat in Portuguese ports and would be taken into international waters - outside the reach of Portuguese laws - to take the pill.

The visit by Women on Waves, a privately funded organisation, reignited the deeply divisive abortion debate in Portugal and caused unease in the conservative government.

Pro-abortion rights groups claim that up to 40,000 backroom abortions are carried out in Portugal every year. Portugal's teenage pregnancy rate is about 20 per 1,000, among the highest in the European Union.

Last year around 11,000 women in Portugal were admitted to hospital for treatment of complications arising from botched illegal abortions. Five of them died. Prosecutions for illegal abortions are rare.