Nurse Gets 8 1/2 Years for Illegal Abortions

A Portuguese court convicted a nurse of performing illegal abortions in her home and found one woman guilty of terminating her pregnancy, crimes in a nation whose laws regarding abortion are among Europe’s strictest.

The court in Maia sentenced 46-year-old nurse Maria do Ceu Ribeiro to 8 1/2 years in prison.

The woman convicted of having an illegal abortion, whose name was withheld, was given a choice of four months in jail or a fine of $108.

Abortion is illegal in this mostly Roman Catholic country except under strictly defined medical circumstances or in rape cases.