Madam, - The report in Monday's edition concerning Portugal's referendum on abortion appears to convey the idea that the referendum either "failed" or was "invalid". This may be misleading.
Since fewer than 50 per cent of the electorate cast their votes (43.61 per cent, to be precise), the result of the referendum is not binding. However, a majority (59.25 per cent) of those who voted were in favour of making abortion on demand legal in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
The issue will now be debated in Parliament and the likely outcome will be a new law enforcing the view of the majority who voted. - Yours, etc,
Yours sincerely,
READ MORE
PAULO CASTILHO, Portuguese Ambassador, Dublin.