RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The governments of Brazil and the United States intend to lead an international alliance that establishes basic principles in the issue of women’s health. However, the initiative is driven by the governments’ desire to restate the rejection of abortion and the defense of the family.
By signing the proposal, countries emphasize that “in no case should abortion be promoted as a family planning method” and that “any abortion-related measures or changes within the health system can only be determined at the national or local level according to the national legislative process.”
The document will be adopted on September 8th, after months of intense rapprochement of the Brazilian government with the most conservative wings of American society.
On Wednesday, a request was submitted by the Conectas Human Rights organization to the Commission on Foreign Relations and National Defense and to the Senate Commission on Human Rights “to summon the Minister of State for Foreign Relations, Ernesto Araújo, to clarify the initiative co-sponsored by Brazil and the United States of America.”
Questioned, the Itamaraty has not commented to date. In his speech at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation ten days ago, the American Ambassador to Brazil, Todd Chapman, mentioned the project. According to him, “Brazil and the United States are jointly sponsoring the Geneva Consensus Statement to ensure significant health benefits for women and to protect the family.”
The project emerged after controversy over the government’s role in the case of a ten-year-old girl who, after being sexually abused, struggled to secure a legal abortion. The Ministry of Health has published an ordinance that hinders access to legal abortion.
International Project
The initiative now becomes international. The text draft refers to the “challenges to defend women’s right to the highest achievable health standards.”
In Geneva (Switzerland) and in capitals around the world, Americans and Brazilians have been trying to persuade governments to join the project. So far, fewer than ten countries have committed themselves to the initiative.
But there is hope that the group may reach as many as 30 countries. The focus of diplomatic efforts is on countries like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya, Iraq and Egypt, known for being severely criticized for their handling of women in society.
Countries ruled by the far-right, like Hungary and Poland, are also negotiating their involvement. In Latin America, only Haiti, Guatemala and Paraguay figure on the list of potential supporters.
Focus on abortion ban
The focus of the initiative is the rejection of abortion. In a passage, governments “express the essential priority of protecting the right to life by committing ourselves to coordinated efforts in multilateral arenas.” In other words, they commit to take action in the United Nations, World Health Organization, and other organizations to establish this as a principle.
The text goes further. The alliance reasserts that “there is no international right to abortion, nor any international obligation on the part of states to finance or facilitate abortion, consistent with the long-standing international consensus that each nation has a sovereign right to implement programs and activities consistent with its laws and policies.”
It also states that “the child needs special safeguards and care before and after birth” and that “special protection and assistance measures must be taken.”
There is a commitment to “improve and ensure women’s access to health and development. But the same paragraph adds: “without including abortion”.
The “critical role” of women in the family
Throughout the declaration, the term “family” is following the woman’s situation at all times. Nowhere in the passage does the term “gender equality” appear. The authors prefer to say that “equal sharing of responsibilities for the family by men and women and a harmonious partnership between them are critical to their and their families’ well-being.”
The declaration is also a reiteration of the family’s role, considered by governments to be “the natural and essential group of society and entitled to the protection of society and of the State”. In this family, “women play a critical role.”
However, a virtual public hearing is required before approval in order for the Federal Senate to “monitor such an initiative in Brazilian foreign policy and ensure consistency between the legally guaranteed rights in Brazil in terms of sexual and reproductive health and the announced initiative of Brazilian and American diplomats,” according to Conectas.
“The American ambassador’s announcement raises concerns for Conectas considering that this same week the federal government, through the Ministry of Health, issued Ordinance No. 2,282 that “Regulates the Justification and Authorization Procedure for the Interruption of Pregnancy in the cases provided for by law, within the Single Health System-SUS,” said Camila Asano, Program Director at Conectas.
Civil society criticizes measure on justification of abortion in Brazil
Some 350 civil society organizations have spoken out against the ordinance that imposes obstacles to the procedure provided for by the law on termination of pregnancy in the event of rape.
In the note, the organizations state that it is “unacceptable for the federal government to use an infralegal instrument to embarrass women and girls who are victims of the crime of rape and to hinder a right legally established in Brazil since 1940.”
“Its result will be to obstruct the operation and opening of legal abortion services following rape, which is already scarce given the extent of the number of cases of sexual violence in Brazil,” it said.
The organizations still urge the National Congress to urgently approve the Legislative Decree that “suspends the rule’s effects due to its illegality”.
Source: UOL