Abortion legislation
Legal conditions
- Written consent by the woman
- Pre-abortion consultation (legal counselling) + pre-abortion laboratory tests + post-abortion consultation
- Waiting period (at least 3 days) between pre-abortion consultation and abortion procedure
- Contraception evoked during at least 1 of the medical consultations
Specific conditions for minors
- Parent’s (or guardian’s) consent required for minors under 16
Sources
Practical conditions
Mandatory pre-abortion examinations
- Blood group and rhesus factor
- Ultrasound
Involved healthcare professionals
- Surgical abortion: obstetrician/gynaecologist (OB/GYN)
- Medical abortion: OB/GYN, another physician or a nurse under physician supervision
Other information
- Public Hospitals with OB/GYN services have the obligation to perform abortion, but not all of them perform abortion due to physician conscientious objection. Those who do not perform abortion refer the woman to Private Services (autorized for abortion), under economic support of the National Health System.
- Doctors are not allowed to perform abortion in their private practice.
Abortion statistics
Overall number of induced abortions
Source: https://gateway.euro.who.int/en/indicators/hfa_587-7011-number-of-abortions-all-ages/
Abortion ratio per 1.000 live births: 176 (2019)
Source: https://gateway.euro.who.int/en/indicators/hfa_586-7010-abortions-per-1000-live-births/
Abortions performed “on request”: 96% (2018)
Source: Direção-Geral Da Saúde; Divisão de saúde sexual, reprodutiva, infantil e juvenil: Relatório dos registos das interrupções da gravidez ao abrigo de lei 16/2007
Overall number of induced abortions vs. medical abortions
Source: Direção-Geral Da Saúde; Divisão de saúde sexual, reprodutiva, infantil e juvenil: Relatório dos registos das interrupções da gravidez ao abrigo de lei 16/2007
Induced abortions per gestational age
Unfortunately we have no data for this country.Source:
Note: abortion on request only available up to 10 weeks + 6 days' gestation
Place of abortion
Source: Direção-Geral Da Saúde; Divisão de saúde sexual, reprodutiva, infantil e juvenil: Relatório dos registos das interrupções da gravidez ao abrigo de lei 16/2007
Characteristics of women having induced abortion
In 2018, among women who had induced abortion:
- 79,2% were Portuguese
- 30,2% had at least 1 previous induced abortion
- 56,7% had at least 1 child
Sources
- Direção-Geral Da Saúde; Divisão de saúde sexual, reprodutiva, infantil e juvenil: Relatório dos registos das interrupções da gravidez ao abrigo de lei 16/2007
Fertility and contraception
Women age at first birth
- 30,7 years of age (2020)
Overall contraception data
- 94% of sexual active women aged 15-49 used a contraceptive method (2015):
- 58% used oral contraceptives
- 14% used male condoms
- 12% used intra-uterine devices (IUD)
- 5% used implants.
Contraception during abortion process
- 92,6% % of women who had abortion on request had a contraceptive method prescribed during abortion process (2018).
39,3 % of women who had abortion on request had long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) prescribed during abortion process (2018).
LARC is usually placed in abortion facilities:
- IUD is placed 2 to 4 weeks after medical abortion, and at the time of surgical abortion
- Implant is placed at the time of mifepristone intake or 2-4 weeks after medical abortion, and at the time of surgical abortion.
Sources
- https://www.pordata.pt/en/Portugal/Mean+age+of+the+mother+at+birth+of+first+child-805
- Águas et al., [Evaluation on portuguese women contraceptive practice]. Acta Obstet Ginecol Port 2016;10(3):184-192 [in Portuguese] (http://www.fspog.com/fotos/editor2/2016_3T/04-ao_16-00046.pdf)
- Direção-Geral Da Saúde; Divisão de saúde sexual, reprodutiva, infantil e juvenil: Relatório dos registos das interrupções da gravidez ao abrigo de lei 16/2007
- Direção-Geral Da Saúde; Divisão de saúde sexual, reprodutiva, infantil e juvenil: Relatório dos registos das interrupções da gravidez ao abrigo de lei 16/2007 ; Organização dos serviços para implementação da Lei n.º 16/2007 de 17 de Abril
Country-specific characteristics
A special thanks to our correspondents for contributing in data collection.
Please contact info@exelgyn.com if you have additional data or would like to comment information
Page last updated: 31 March 2023