Brazil Officials at UN Reveal Plans to Defeat Pro-Life Bill

By Stefano Gennarini, J.D. | 2012

GENEVA, February 24 (C-FAM) Deep within a UN committee in Geneva, Brazil’s government officials filed a report criticizing the country’s pending pro-life legislation and described plans to defeat it.

In an official response to questions posed by the Committee for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Brazil appears to treat abortion as a right. This contradicts Brazil’s laws, and the fact that there is no international right to abortion.

Countries that ratify CEDAW are required to report every four years to the CEDAW Committee on their progress in implementing the Convention.

Members of the Committee frequently ask questions involving abortion, even though the treaty does not address the issue. Most countries inform the Committee on their laws. Brazil, however, surprised observers by displaying a fairly passionate support for abortion.

In Brazil, abortion is restricted by both the penal and civil codes. It is only permitted to save the life of the mother, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape. Through a 2004 Court ruling, anencephalic fetuses may be aborted by securing a judicial order.

New legislation may be enacted soon protecting life from the moment of conception.

In a series of questions to Brazil, the CEDAW Committee asked: “[p]lease inform the Committee on specific measures in place to address the issue of unsafe abortions in the State party and discrimination against women and adolescents who come to health centers with initiated abortions or are victims of violence because of conservative cultural patterns….”

The question echoed verbatim briefs that the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) routinely submits to the Committee. CRR is a public interest law firm that pressures countries to legalize abortion on demand without restrictions.

In response, Brazilian representatives lamented that the “right to abortion” is under threat from the “Statute of the Unborn,” a bill which has passed several legislative hurdles and “would deprive women victims of rape and at risk of death the right to an abortion… and prohibit stem cell research.”

The Brazilian delegate’s response mirrored a strategy document from abortion activists in the country working to fight the Statute of the Unborn. That strategy states: “[s]ecuring the Bill’s failure poses a major challenge, as the composition of the Chamber of Deputies is projected to have a more conservative bent in the coming legislative session than it did in the previous Congress. Given the issue’s widespread repercussions in the 2010 elections and the demobilization of important advocacy movements, blocking enactment of the Bill now pending before Congress will be extremely difficult.”

The strategy went on to say that, “It is critical that the measure be rejected by the Constitution, Justice, and Citizenship Committee (Comissão de Constituição, Justiça e Cidadania – CCJC), to which end integrated action with the members of the CCJC will need to be pursued. Another effort centers on drawing the support of scientists engaged in stem cell research into the debate.”

Brazil’s laws reflect growing political opposition to abortion among Catholics and Evangelicals. This most recent episode with the CEDAW Committee highlights the way international bodies are often used to circumvent domestic politics in efforts to change national laws and policies.

 

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter