Eighteen years ago, Portugal took a decisive step forward for women’s public health with the approval of Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy (IVG), under Law No. 16/2007 of April 17.

Last week in Horta, during the plenary session of the Azorean Parliament, two proposals were debated to address the persistent difficulties in guaranteeing this right in the region. These difficulties stem from our archipelagic reality, scarce resources, and conscientious objection by some medical professionals.

As is well known, I am an advocate of abortion, aware of the divisive nature of this issue in Portuguese society. My position rests on two assumptions: punishing abortion does not prevent it, and a woman’s body does not belong to the state. Before decriminalization, the reality was horrific. Women died at the hands of so-called “curious” individuals who inserted crochet hooks into their uteruses to cause infection. Those who survived often lost the possibility of future motherhood. Meanwhile, women with financial means traveled to Spain and obtained safe procedures, while poorer women were left to dangerous teas, needles, and home remedies.

I will not dwell on every intervention made in last week’s debate. Still, much of the discussion seemed to regress, treating abortion as a casual method of contraception—as if women approached the procedure like a stroll in the park. At moments, it felt as though we were relitigating decriminalization itself rather than addressing the concrete proposals on the table.

We are in the 21st century, yet eighteen years later, the burden of contraception is still placed almost exclusively on women. Biology, however, tells a different story. A woman is fertile for just 24 to 48 hours each cycle, while a healthy man is fertile 365 days a year. A woman can become pregnant once every 9 to 10 months, but a man can impregnate several women in a single day.

Despite this, ejaculation is treated as if it were random, uncontrollable, and impossible to regulate. Meanwhile, ovulation is considered predictable, even though many women lack knowledge of their cycles due to illiteracy, hormonal imbalance, or inadequate sex education.

The contrast is stark: female contraceptives carry heavy risks—sometimes life-threatening—while male contraception, whether condoms or vasectomy, entails at most temporary discomfort and is often reversible. The burden should lie where the risk is lowest and the control is highest. Abortion happens because a man ejaculates into a woman’s vagina—consensually or not. Is there no male responsibility in this? Can men not choose condoms, or consider vasectomy, a quick, non-invasive, reversible procedure? The options exist, and the information is available.

Persisting in attributing responsibility solely to women perpetuates harmful rhetoric: that sex is a basic male need, while for women it is a reproductive obligation. This mindset fuels the cruelty of phrases like “you should have kept your legs closed.”

Whatever one’s stance on abortion, the real focus should be on preventing unwanted pregnancies, which are traumatic and complex processes for women. Prevention requires recognizing men’s responsibility. Responsible ejaculation must be part of awareness campaigns, alongside female contraception.

We must break the taboos and talk about this plainly: these are biological realities, not moral scandals. Sex education, grounded in equality, is essential. And constantly repeating the word “woman” in the debate is exhausting, erasing men’s role in prevention and fueling resentment. Men can walk away from pregnancy; women cannot.

Abortion is not a contraceptive method. But responsible ejaculation is.

Alexandra Manes is from Flores Island but lives in Terceira Island, Azores. She is a regular contributing writer for several Azorean newspapers, a political and cultural activist, and has served in the Azorean Parliament.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various leading thinkers and writers from the Azores, providing the diaspora and those interested in the current state of the Azores with a sense of the significant opinions on some of the archipelago’s issues.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL).