Why Brazil Should Decriminalize Abortion

Why Brazil Should Decriminalize Abortion

September 28, 2017
Published in Folha de S.Paulo
Margaret Wurth, Researcher, Children's Rights Division

I met “Mariana,” a 20-year-old woman in Paraíba state, almost a year ago in the waiting area of a public hospital. I was investigating access to reproductive health services for women and girls in northeastern Brazil, and Mariana was one of my first interviews. She told me she had an unplanned pregnancy, and gave birth, when she was 18.

“I cried a lot and I didn’t want it at all,” she said.

But abortion is a crime in Brazil, except in cases of rape, when the life of the woman is at risk, or the fetus has anencephaly—a fatal congenital brain disorder. I asked Mariana if she felt like she had any options other than continuing with the pregnancy. “No,” she said quietly, shaking her head.

Continued at source: Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/09/28/why-brazil-should-decriminalize-abortion

Brazil: Court Reviewing Criminalization of Abortion

Brazil: Court Reviewing Criminalization of Abortion
April 25, 2017

Amicus Briefs Cite Violations of Women’s Rights

(Sao Paulo) – Criminalization of abortion is incompatible with Brazil’s human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said today in filing amicus briefs in two cases before the Federal Supreme Court. Human Rights Watch said that the court should move to decriminalize abortion.

Abortion is legal in Brazil only in cases of rape, when necessary to save a woman’s life, or when the fetus suffers anencephaly – a fatal congenital brain disorder. Women and girls who terminate pregnancies under any other conditions face sentences of up to three years in prison, while people who perform abortions face up to four years.

Continued at source: Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/25/brazil-court-reviewing-criminalization-abortion

Brazilian attorneys demand abortion rights for women infected with Zika

BMJ 2016; 354 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i4657
(Published 25 August 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;354:i4657

Cláudia Collucci

A public attorneys’ association has asked Brazil’s Supreme Court to allow women who have contracted the Zika virus and are in a state of “great mental suffering” to have access to abortions.

Under Brazilian law, abortion is permitted only in cases of rape, when there is a threat to the mother’s life, or if the fetus has anencephaly.

The petition, which was delivered on 24 August, proposes that the mental suffering of pregnant women seeking abortions must be verified by medical and psychological reports. “[Abortion] would only occur in very exceptional cases,” said Joaquim Neto, president of the National Association of Public Defenders.

[continued at link]
Source: British Medical Journal

25.08.2016

National Association of Public Defenders