Brazilian Lawmakers Reject Bill To Legalize Abortion

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 14 Jul 2008 - 1:00 PST

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Efforts to legalize abortion in Brazil, the world's most populous Roman Catholic country, were rejected by the lower house of the country's national Congress by a 57-4 vote of the Justice and Constitution Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Reuters reports. The bill -- which has been stalled in Congress for 17 years -- is now likely to be dropped (Reuters, 7/9).

According to AFP/NDTV.com, the center-left government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has signaled it favors decriminalizing abortion and making the issue a question of public health. The Catholic Church opposes the move and launched an antiabortion campaign this year (AFP/NDTV.com, 7/9). According to Reuters, several ruling party legislators pushed the bill after Health Minister Jose Temporao last year "all but endorsed legalizing abortion." In addition, Temporao angered Catholic officials by proposing a referendum on the legalization of the procedure and support of increased use of contraceptives. The government has begun distributing condoms in public high schools and recently opened a condom factory (Reuters, 7/9).

Catholics for the Right To Decide said it is disappointed by the vote but not surprised. Spokesperson Dulce Xavier said, "We expected this result against decriminalizing abortion because there are totally opposed forces at work within the Congress," adding, "They called a public audience to decide the issue and invited eight people opposed to abortion -- six of them religious leaders -- and only one health ministry official in favor."

Abortion is illegal in Brazil, except in cases of rape or to save the life of the woman, and can be punished by prison sentences. However, the procedure is widely practiced, according to AFP/NDTV.com (AFP/NDTV.com, 7/9). According to Reuters, despite the view by some Brazilians that most abortions in the country are among low-income teenagers, a study conducted by the University of Brasilia showed that most abortions were obtained by employed Catholic mothers ages 20 to 29 who used contraceptive devices and had steady sexual partners. Government statistics have shown that more than 200,000 women are hospitalized each year because of complications resulting from abortions (Reuters, 7/9). At least one million abortions are believed to occur in the country annually (BBC News, 7/10).

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