Contact: Larry Jacobs, World Congress of Families, 815-964-5819, 513-515-3685, cell, [email protected]

MEDIA ADVISORY, July 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- Portugal’s socialist government is pushing for a far-reaching expansion of abortion. Currently, the procedure is legal only in cases of rape or if the mother’s life is endangered, and illegal in all cases after the twelfth week of gestation.

The government wants abortion on demand during the first trimester -- despite the rejection of liberalized abortion in a 1998 referendum.

Allan Carlson, organizer of the World Congress of Families urged Portugal not to follow America’s example.

“In the United States, abortion was legalized by judicial fiat in 1973. We now have approximately 1.3 million abortions a year. Frequently, boyfriends or male family members pressure women into having abortions. With abortion has come a general increase in sexual activity, especially among the young and vulnerable,” Carlson observed.

Carlson warned of the consequences of embracing a culture of death. “Legalized abortion has resulted in increased infanticide. It’s also given impetus to campaigns for euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide, as well as embryonic stem-cell research.”

In March, 2004, a petition with 190,000 signers opposing abortion was presented to Portugal’s parliament. Still, despite an earlier promise of another referendum, Portugal’s government seems determined to press ahead with legalization through parliamentary action.

In 2005, the European Union called on member nations (including pro-life states like Poland, Ireland and Malta) to guarantee what it called “high-quality/women-centered” health care, including “safe abortion.”

Said Carlson, “Anti-family forces in Portugal are working in tandem with a European bureaucracy bent on eradicating choice among nations, when it comes to protecting the unborn child.”

World Congress of Families IV – an international gathering of pro-family organizations, activists, scholars and parliamentarians – will convene in Warsaw, May 11-13, 2007. The Congress is committed to the protection of human life “from conception to natural death.”

For more information on the World Congress of Families, including the upcoming Warsaw Congress, go to www.worldcongress.org. To schedule an interview with Dr. Carlson, contact Larry Jacobs at 800-461-3113 or 513-515-3685(cell).