Since only more than half of all Portuguese failed to vote in the referendum, the final decision on the vote must now be passed by Parliament.
The current, strict laws only allow abortions until the 12th week of pregnancy in rape cases or in the case of a malformed fetus when the mother's life is in danger, according to Agence France-Presse.
The Palm Beach Post reports that the center-left Socialist government wants to change the current laws to allow women the right to abort their pregnancy in the first 10 weeks without cause.
In Portugal, more than 90 percent of the people consider themselves to be Roman Catholic, according to AFP. Yet church attendance is declining.
"As long as everyone does whatever pleases them, the use of sexuality will lead more and more to the disrespect of humanity: family violence, child abuse, AIDS, the use of women as objects, troubled adolescence, abortion," said Cardinal Jose da Cruz Policarpo, Portugal's top cleric, in a message he aimed at the faithful.
The cleric added that selfishness is to blame for the social trend to ease accessibility to abortion.
