PORTUGAL-ABORTION-TBs-CCPR

Concluding Observations on Report 5 (2020) (Link)

Persons with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities

18. While the Committee notes the explanation provided by the delegation on the barriers to granting social benefits for persons with disabilities and measures taken to overcome such situations, it is concerned about reports of delays in issuing social benefits, which are related to both medical examinations and the processing and subsequent payment of pensions. It is also concerned about the lack of information on the criteria for conducting forced medical interventions, including termination of pregnancy and psychosurgical interventions, on persons with disabilities who have been declared legally incapacitated, as well as the lack of statistics in this regard. The Committee further notes with concern the undue restrictions imposed on the right to vote for people with mental disabilities.

19. The State party should:

(a) Continue its efforts to overcome the shortcomings and delays in granting social benefits for persons with disabilities, including by allocating sufficient financial and human resources to the relevant departments and providing retroactive coverage;

(b) Ensure that medical treatment or surgical interventions involving persons with disabilities who have been deprived of their legal capacity are compatible with the need to make every effort to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of the persons concerned and are carried out pursuant to appropriate legal and procedural safeguards; guarantee effective legal remedies; and ensure that any abuse is effectively investigated and prosecuted;

(c) Ensure that it does not discriminate against persons with mental, intellectual or psychosocial disabilities by denying them the right to vote on grounds that are disproportionate or have no reasonable and objective relation to their ability to vote, taking account of article 25 of the Covenant.

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Concluding Observations on Report 4 (2012) (Link)

[no mention]

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Concluding Observations on Report 3 (2003) (Link)

[no mention]

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Concluding Observations on Report 2 (1989) (Link)

141. …Clarification was also sought as to how authorization of abortion on urgency grounds could be reconciled with article 24 of the Constitution.

142. In his reply, the representative of the State party explained that…The Constitutional Court had decided not to declare provisions of article 140, paragraph 1, of the Penal Code unconstitutional because it protected the legitimate rights of pregnant women. Accordingly, abortion under the circumstances described therein was not to be considered a criminal offence.

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Concluding Observations on Report 1 (1981) (Link)

[no mention]

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