Misogyny in discussions about legal abortion in Brazil

In Rio de Janeiro, a bill guaranteeing humane treatment of women seeking an abortion procedure was defeated

Luciana Boiteux, Translated by: Ana Paula Rocha
13 March 2024

We welcomed March with France's parliament approving the right to abortion in the country's constitution: 780 votes in favor and 72 against. A few days earlier, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, a bill aimed at guaranteeing the humane treatment of women seeking legal abortion – that is, what is already provided for in Brazil’s Penal Code – was defeated: 32 votes against and only eight in favor.

The bill, proposed by Marielle Franco, had been awaiting a vote since 2017, and aimed to municipalize a program that already existed as a technical standard of the Ministry of Health.

Continued: https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2024/03/13/misogyny-in-discussions-about-legal-abortion-in-brazil


By bus, car and plane, women journey across Latin America for abortions

By Marina Dias and Terrence McCoy
February 23, 2024

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — She’d taken an overnight bus from the countryside, then a train across the urban sprawl of São Paulo, and now she was staring out the plane window, head full of worry. There was a pink rosary in her pocket. But she didn’t see the point of praying. She feared she was a sinner, a criminal, and this trip, her first time out of Brazil, would be a secret she’d carry for the rest of her life.

Cristina was 35 years old. She was 11 weeks pregnant. She came from a conservative Christian family in a conservative Christian nation where abortion was largely illegal, so she’d decided to travel to a country where it was not and bring an end to the pregnancy she didn’t want.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/23/brazil-latin-america-abortion-restrictions/


Abortion: Pro-choice Forces in Brazil Are Being Threatened by Christian Radicals and the Ultra-right

BY ANDREA DIP
DECEMBER 10, 2023

Brazil’s Supreme Court has postponed a debate on decriminalizing early-term abortion, leading feminists and rights advocates to warn that the justices will be responsible for the deaths of more women and girls in the country.

Abortion in the country is punishable by up to three years in prison, and is allowed on only three grounds: rape, risk to the life of the pregnant person, and – following a 2012 Supreme Court decision – when the fetus suffers anencephaly, a fatal birth defect.

Continued: https://www.brazzil.com/abortion-pro-choice-forces-in-brazil-are-being-threatened-by-christian-radicals-and-the-ultra-right/


‘The time is now’: Inside Brazil’s fight to decriminalize abortion

Women will die due to far right’s attack on Supreme Court that has made decriminalization unlikely, activists say

Andrea Dip
5 December 2023

Brazil’s Supreme Court has postponed a debate on decriminalizing early-term abortion, leading feminists and rights advocates to warn that the justices will be responsible for the deaths of more women and girls in the country.

Abortion in the country is punishable by up to three years in prison, and is allowed on only three grounds: rape, risk to the life of the pregnant person, and – following a 2012 Supreme Court decision – when the fetus suffers anencephaly, a fatal birth defect.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/brazil-fight-abortion-decriminalize-supreme-court-lula-justice-weber-barroso/


Brazil’s Abortion Dilemma Explored in Ventana Sur’s Pix-in-Post Debut ‘November’

By Callum McLennan
Nov 30, 2023

…The film follows Janaína, played by Mayara Santos, a star student looking to be the first member of her family to graduate college. Janaína lives in a small apartment with her grandmother and mother at their small apartment in Recife. We meet her out partying with her best friend and boyfriend. Life seems good. The shock of an unplanned pregnancy changes that. Abortion remains illegal in Brazil. The ensuing weight of branching feelings, risks and relationships fills Janaína’s life with choices no one should face unsupported.

Producer Dora Amorim told Variety, “Our characters are women living with all their complexities, contradictions, cultures and realities, who carry stories that are the foundation of their condition as women in our contemporary society and also in the North-East of Brazil.

Continued: https://variety.com/2023/film/global/ventana-sur-brazil-abortion-debate-1235813508/


Cannes Abortion Drama ‘Power Alley’ Secures Distribution in Spain

By Leo Barraclough
Nov 14, 2023

Berlin-based sales agency M-Appeal has closed a deal with Reverso Films for the Spanish distribution of Lillah Halla’s “Power Alley.”

… “Power Alley,” which had its world premiere in Critics’ Week in Cannes, is a fast-paced drama set in Brazil. The film follows talented volleyball player Sofia, who discovers she is pregnant on the eve of a career-defining game. Seeking an abortion, which is illegal in Brazil, she is confronted by a fundamentalist group who become fixated on stopping her. The film puts sisterhood and collective resistance at the forefront of the story.

Continued: https://variety.com/2023/film/global/cannes-power-alley-reverso-films-1235790404/


Low turnout for anti-abortion marches in Brazil

October 12, 2023
La Prensa

Rio de Janeiro (EFE) – Anti-abortion marches scheduled for Thursday in Brazil, which organizers said would be the largest in the country’s history, had considerable low turnout, with only a handful of participants in some cities.

The protests, called by conservative and religious groups to commemorate the Day of Our Lady of the Conception of Aparecida – the country’s patron saint – and Children’s Day, were sparked by a Supreme Court case examining the decriminalization of abortion up to the 12 weeks.

… The failure was most evident in Rio de Janeiro, a city with a largely conservative population, where EFE confirmed that only about 30 people showed up at the iconic Copacabana beach designated for the meeting.

Continued: https://www.laprensalatina.com/low-turnout-for-anti-abortion-marches-in-brazil/


Brazil´s Supreme Court A Step Closer to Decriminalizing Abortion

Chance to Finally Uphold Women’s and Pregnant People´s Rights

Regina Tamés, Cristina Quijano Carrasco, Human Rights Watch
Oct 5, 2023

Brazil’s Supreme Court is now considering a case that could decriminalize abortion in the country up to 12 weeks of gestation.

This case had previously been on hold since 2018, when the Court held a public hearing at which Human Rights Watch urged it to consider Brazil’s obligations under international law in reaching its ruling. Brazil’s current legislation regulating abortion, which dates to 1940, is incompatible with the country's human rights obligations. Abortion is criminalized except in cases of sexual violence, when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger, or when a fatal fetal condition known as anencephaly is detected.

Continued:  https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/05/brazils-supreme-court-step-closer-decriminalizing-abortion


Americas: Brazil can become the next country to step up to guarantee the right to abortion

Amnesty International
September 28, 2023

To mark International Safe Abortion Day on 28 September, Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International, said:

“Despite the green wave’s numerous victories in the Americas over the last few years, the rights gained and the opportunities to expand abortion protections are under attack by anti-rights actors. The overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States last year was a wakeup call for the movement, reminding us once more that the fight to defend and expand our rights must be ongoing.”

Continued: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/americas-brazil-right-to-safe-abortions/


Demonstrators across Latin America demand abortion rights

September 28, 2023

Americas Desk, Sep 28 (EFE).- The Day for Decriminalization and Legalization of Abortion drew demonstrations all over Latin America on Thursday to address a lack of protection in countries such as El Salvador, fear of losing rights in Argentina, intense political debates in Brazil and progress in Mexico.

In El Salvador, activists from the Feminist Assembly denounced the total criminalization of abortion as the “greatest expression of violence” against women, who can be accused of aggravated homicide and sentenced to 30 years in prison, even in cases of miscarriage.

Continued : https://www.laprensalatina.com/demonstrators-across-latin-america-demand-abortion-rights/