1998 Portuguese abortion referendum

No Yes

On 28 June 1998 a referendum on a new abortion law was conducted in Portugal; it was the second national referendum in the Portuguese history and the first after the 1974 Carnation Revolution.

The law was proposed by the Portuguese Communist Party and it decriminalized abortion during the first ten weeks of pregnancy and was considered by the left as the only way to put an end to the estimated 20 to 50 thousand illegal abortions in the country. The law was approved in the Assembly of the Republic through a majority of the center-left and left-wing parties, but an agreement between the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party parties leaders led to the referendum.

The referendum was held on a summer day, which is said to have contributed to the fact that the turnout was so low that it did not pass the threshold of 50 percent of the voters needed to make the decision binding, although the winning answer, NO, was respected and the law was not changed, meaning abortion was only allowed in exceptional case (such as rape, mal-formations of the fetus and danger to the women's health). In the following years, a few dozen women (a small minority of the estimated illegal abortions) were defendants in three trials for abortion.

A revote occurred in the 2007 Portuguese abortion referendum, where the result was reversed.

The question present in the ballots was: "Do you agree with the decriminalization of the voluntary interruption of the pregnancy, if it takes place in the first 10 weeks and in an authorized healthcare institution?"

Results

Results by district

District	Yes	No	Turnout	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Aveiro	53,657	32.27%	112,621	67.73%	30.63%
	Azores	8,422	17.20%	40,545	82.80%	27.21%
	Beja	25,477	78.17%	7,114	21.83%	22.96%
	Braga	55,770	22.73%	189,555	77.27%	39.55%
	Bragança	10,899	26.25%	30,621	73.75%	28.58%
	Castelo Branco	25,341	47.22%	28,330	52.78%	28.78%
	Coimbra	52,487	52.94%	46,649	47.06%	27.33%
	Évora	28,137	72.98%	10,417	27.02%	21.62%
	Faro	46,519	69.59%	20,331	30.41%	22.38%
	Guarda	15,836	29.89%	37,145	70.11%	31.99%
	Leiria	50,939	48.26%	54,612	51.74%	29.40%
	Lisbon	416,285	68.51%	191,342	31.49%	34.36%
	Madeira	15,681	23.97%	49,733	76.03%	32.76%
	Portalegre	17,879	67.78%	8,537	32.32%	24.14%
	Porto	192,100	42.38%	261,211	57.62%	33.39%
	Santarém	63,273	56.57%	48,581	43.43%	29.83%
	Setúbal	169,742	81.89%	37,534	18.11%	33.37%
	Viana do Castelo	19,365	26.21%	54,506	73.79%	34.09%
	Vila Real	15,907	26.97%	50,453	76.03%	31.28%
	Viseu	24,891	24.22%	77,861	75.78%	30.37%
Source: Direcção Geral da Administração Interna