PORTUGAL: LAW MATCHES REALITY. Good news for reproductive freedom today, as a referendum liberalizing abortion has passed in Portugal. Although the turnout didn't meet the quorum -- making it non-binding -- President Jose Socrates has pledged to change the policy. It's not a radical change -- it only permits fully legal abortion in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy -- but it's an important first step. Elaine Sciolino had an excellent article explaining the background this weekend, and which serves as another reminder of how abortion policy actually works on the ground.

SMALL STAKES ENSURE THE MINIMUM CREDIBILITY. Garance makes a very important point below. When evaluating assertions of great importance, it's always useful to see whether people talking hysterically actually act in ways consistent with their rhetoric. I've said many times that I've never found the ethical question of abortion particularly troubling, for a central reason: I won't take the "pro-life" moral position seriously until its supporters do.