Abortion: the Brazilian Senate deals with a project to guarantee life "from its conception"

The debate on abortion, which dominated the agenda last year in Argentina, has shifted to Brazil. There, the Senate launched a draft amendment to the Constitution, adding that the right to life is inherent in the design.

Sources consulted indicated that it was not a question of returning to the exceptions in which the abortion had already been declared non-punishable (rape, risk of the mother's life and anencephaly), but those who oppose fear that the ultimate goal is to prohibit abortion in any circumstance. In the axis, the Zika virus, which caused a significant increase in the number of babies born with microcephaly (is not part of the exceptions in which the abortion is allowed, in contrast to anencephaly) . The Supreme Federal Court will judge in May a lawsuit that addresses the possibility of abortion in all cases of pregnant women infected with the Zika virus.

Yesterday, the Brazilian Senate rejected in its first session of deliberation a proposal for amendment of the Constitution that could draw, according to critics, a total ban on abortion (even in cases where it is today considered no punishable).

Senator Eduardo Girao, from the Podemos Party, who supports President Jair Bolsonaro, was the driving force behind the initiative. Those who defend the proposal argue that the cases of pregnancy termination contemplated by the law will be preserved, but other senators say that this could become a setback and throw out the current exceptions.

The amendment, says portal AnsaLatina, would be the dream of the Brazilian society pro-life, as it would end the "interference" of the Federal Supreme Court, which authorized in 2012 the suspension of pregnancy anencephalic fetuses.

Abortion caused in Brazil or voluntary interruption, is totally illegal under the Brazilian Penal Code, but it is not punishable if there is no other way to save the life of the pregnant woman, if the pregnancy results from a rape or if the fetus carries anencephalic Penal Code).

In a symbolic vote, according to the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, the senators retrieved a 2015 project from Pastor Magno Malta (former Senator of the Republic Party), which would amend Article 5 of the Constitution. This allows the Senate to revisit the bill to amend the Constitution.

The current text of the Magna Carta states that "all are equal before the law, without distinction of any kind, guaranteeing to Brazilians and foreigners residing in the country the inviolability of the right to life". The proposal would add that this right is guaranteed "from conception".

Only PT senators, Humberto Costa and Paulo Rocha, voted against the project's research. "Go back in time, go back and make a decision providing for the possibility of a definitive ban on abortion.I think this project does not meet the opinion of the society", has declared Costa.

To better understand this initiative, we must go back to 2016, when the spread of the Zika virus in Brazil dramatically increased the number of babies born with microcephaly, which sparked a fierce debate on abortion in Brazil.

As fetuses diagnosed with microcephaly, there is in principle an incompatibility with life, pro-life deny that women have the right to abort in such cases. On the other hand, they demand that the abortion authorization be guaranteed once the Zika virus infection has been confirmed, as a woman's right.

"Almost all babies with anencephaly die shortly after birth, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.However, microcephaly is much less predictable.Even when they are detected before the birth, doctors are often unable to determine what the effects will be, which will further complicate the decision to abort, "says the New York Times.

Folha de S. Paulo explains that during the Senate session, senators made it clear that the project is an echo to respond to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) which, on May 22, intends to judge a legal action that considers the possibility of an abortion. case of pregnant women infected with Zika virus. In addition, an action requiring the decriminalization of induced abortion until the 12th week of gestation is still being treated at the STF.

Those who defend the proposal ensure that the current exceptions will not be changed, even those that the FST has yet to discuss. "Excluded from the Penal Code will be respected.The goal is not to go back on the rights already acquired.The goal is to avoid judicial activism," said Girao, who promoted the # 39; initiative.

SOURCE Urgent 24