In Anti-Abortion Campaign, Brazilian Government Defines Right to Life From Conception

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Jair Bolsonaro government established as a guideline, in a long-term national strategy, the defense of life “from conception” and “the rights of the unborn child”. Advocates of reproductive rights consider the action one more step in the President’s offensive against the legal options for pregnancy termination.

The references are included in the Federal Development Strategy for Brazil from 2020 to 2031, published on Tuesday, October 27th, in the Federal Gazette.

This decree establishes long-term planning under which the different government bodies must consider “the macroeconomic scenarios, guidelines, challenges, directions, key rates, and target goals established”.

In the item “making fundamental human rights and citizenship effective,” the strategy includes the following guideline: “promoting the right to life, from conception to natural death, respecting the rights of the unborn child, through responsible parenting policies, family planning and assistance to pregnant women.”

The terms “right to life from conception” and “rights of the unborn child” are often used by activists who want to restrict the legal abortion options.

According to Gabriela Rondon, attorney for the ANIS (Institute of Bioethics, Human Rights, and Gender), the term unborn child is included in the Civil Code but is commonly used by groups opposed to abortion, including the exceptions provided by Brazilian law. According to her, the purpose of using the term is “to try to confer certain fundamental rights to the embryo that conflict with those of the pregnant woman.”

In Brazil, pregnancy termination is not authorized except in cases of rape, risk of life for the pregnant woman, and anencephaly.

When Damares Alves was appointed Minister of Woman, Family, and Human Rights by Bolsonaro in late 2018, she said that the most important project underway in the National Congress at that time was the so-called statute of the unborn child.

The version discussed at the time restricted women’s rights to abortion and provided for the payment of a pension for rape victims who decided to continue their pregnancy.

The proposal provided for child support and other costs to be paid by the rapist. Should he not be identified, the cost would be covered by public funds, which led to the proposal being called a “rape grant” in Congress.

The statute classified the unborn child as a conceived human being, including “in vitro” cases, before being transferred to the woman’s womb.

Although there was criticism of abortion in reports submitted by deputies on the topic, the bill did not mention amendments for the termination of pregnancy in cases already guaranteed by law.

Despite the legal options for abortion and Federal Supreme Court (STF) decisions, the Bolsonaro government has implemented a range of restrictive measures that, according to health experts, limit women’s protection, including those who can legally terminate their pregnancy.

Recently, the Bolsonaro government allied itself with the U.S. and some of the most conservative countries in the world to sponsor a political statement against abortion and in defense of the family based solely on heterosexual couples.

The text emphasized that “in no case should abortion be promoted as a family planning method” and that “any abortion-related measures or changes within the healthcare system can only be determined at the national or local level according to the national legislative process.”

On another front, the Ministry of Health has issued ordinances with rules for the care of women seeking abortion in cases provided for by law, which specialists and institutions in the health area have considered a means of intimidating pregnant women seeking the procedure.

Following negative repercussions, controversial parts of the rule were removed, such as the requirement that doctors advise pregnant women about the option of viewing the fetus in ultrasounds, but other points were maintained, such as the need for doctors to notify the police if they assist women who seek to terminate their pregnancy due to rape.

Nalida Coelho Monte, coordinator of the Women’s Rights Defense and Promotion Center of the São Paulo State Defender’s Office, says that guidelines like those published on Tuesday do not have the power to prevent legal abortion, but serve to “undermine” public policies aimed at reproductive health.

“This guideline, as well as the Ministry of Health’s ordinances and its substitute, are used by the Executive to undermine public policies related to women’s reproductive health. Although the government can not prevent legal abortion, because it would require legislative changes, it nevertheless generates an environment of misinformation and apparent legal insecurity, which has practical impacts because it makes it even more difficult for women to access legal abortion services,” she states.

Source: Folhapress