I was thrilled to hear that Portuguese citizens voted this weekend to legalize abortion up to 10 weeks, in a public referendum that was initiated and strongly supported by Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates. Portugal is one of the few European countries (along with Poland, Malta, and Ireland) where abortion is still heavily restricted, and as a result, it currently has one of the highest rates of unsafe abortion on the continent–at least 20,000 illegal procedures are performed every year. Portugal is also known for its litigious approach to the abortion issue–five years ago, the government prosecuted a whopping 49 individuals accused of somehow participating in 17 women's illegal abortions, including a handful of taxi drivers. One Portuguese midwife is still serving an 8-year prison sentence as a result.

Despite the restrictive laws, Portuguese women, like women everywhere, still have abortions. And as the BBC recently pointed out:

The fact that abortion is a business was one of the arguments used by the "No" campaign against reform. In fact, it has been one for years–but in secret, with private clinics in Portugal that carry out the operation simply not paying tax.

Maybe the double discourse that everyone knows about is part of the reason why Sunday's referendum to change the law passed by nearly 60 percent, prompting Prime Minister Socrates to declare that "the people have spoken with a clear voice." In response, the government will immediately begin drafting new legislation.

Of course, those who wish to keep abortion criminalized are already attempting to discredit Sunday's results because of low turnout–only 40 percent of the population voted. In a characteristic moment of self-restraint, the concerned ladies over at Concerned Women of America were already accusing Prime Minister Socrates of ignoring his own country's laws even before the votes were cast (I didn't realize that "non-binding" was a synonym for "invalid"). But seen in the light of recent history and current events, Sunday's victory was indeed significant, despite the low turnout. First, the referendum passed with a clear majority: nearly 60 percent of those who voted supported it. Second, the results represent a significant change from the last such vote: only 30 percent of voters participated in a similar referendum in 1998, and only 49 percent of them voted to liberalize the law at that time. And third, the vote took place on a Sunday, in a country where the Catholic Church lobbied strongly to keep abortion illegal–across Portugal, churchgoing Catholics were instructed to vote "no" on the referendum, and to stay home if they could not bring themselves to do so.

Fortunately, 40 percent of Portuguese voters didn't stay home, and 60 percent of those voted "yes" for decriminalization. Still, according to Portuguese tabloid publisher João Marcelino, those who voted don't really count as people. The New York Times dutifully reported Marcelino's comment that "There are two Portugals, the Portugal of the elite–politicians, newspapers and television–and the Portugal of the people. The people are more concerned about unemployment, their salaries, the health system. The real country doesn't consider the issue of abortion important." Yes, because legalizing a procedure that 350,00 of your adult countrywomen have already sought–either at the hands of an illegal provider in Portugal, or at the hands of a legal provider across the border in Spain–has absolutely nothing to do with the health system. Thank goodness we can finally get back to discussing issues that real people care about.