Abortion in Brazil
Abortion can only be legally performed in Brazil if the pregnancy puts the life of the woman in danger or if the pregnancy is the result of a rape.[1] The punishment for a woman which performs an abortion on herself or consents to an abortion performed by another outside these legal exceptions is based in one to three years of detention.[2] The base penalty for a third part that performs an illegal abortion in a woman, with her consentment, varies from one to four years of detention, with the possibility of elevation by one third if the woman gets any physical harm, and can be doubled if she dies.[3] Criminal penalties fixed in four years or less can be converted to non-incarceration punishments, such as community service and compulsory donation to charity.[4]
Brazil is a signatory of the American Human Rights Convention. The Convention grants the right to life to human embryos, "in general, from the moment of conception", and has a legal status on a par with the Constitution in Brazilian Law. The Civil Code of Brazil also safeguards the rights of the unborn. In a 2008 case, however, the Supreme Federal Court ruled, by a 6-5 vote, that the right to life applies only to intrauterine embryos, and that frozen embryos not eligible to a uterus transfer do not hold fundamental rights and may be manipulated for research purposes.
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Incidence
A 1991 World Bank report estimated that the lifetime abortion rate is over two abortions per woman. In 1992 the Ministry of Health estimated the total annual abortion rate at between 800,000 and 1.2 million, based on extrapolations from abortion-related hospitalizations under the health system. The World Health Organization believes that this may be an underestimate.[5]
Public opinion
A March 2007 Datafolha/Folha de S. Paulo poll found that 65% of Brazilians believe that their country's current law "should not be modified", 16% that it should be expanded "to allow abortion in other cases", 10% that abortion should be "decriminalized", and 5% were "not sure".[6]
Excommunication controversy
In March 2009, a controversy between the Brazilian government and the Catholic Church erupted following a series of excommunications related to a high-profile abortion case. A nine year old child had been raped by her stepfather resulting in pregnancy with twins. Doctors in Recife performed an abortion on her on March 4, after realizing that she could die if the pregnancy was to be continued. Archbishop José Cardoso Sobrinho announced the excommunication of the girl's mother, of the doctors who performed the abortion as well as of the judge who refused to halt the procedure.[7]
References
- ^ Brazilian Criminal Code (in Portuguese), art. 128.
- ^ Brazilian Criminal Code (in Portuguese), art. 124.
- ^ Brazilian Criminal Code (in Portuguese), arts. 125 and 127.
- ^ Brazilian Criminal Code (in Portuguese), arts. 43 and 44.
- ^ Expanding family planning options: An assessment of the need for contraceptive introduction in Brazil, World Health Organization, 1994
- ^ "Brazilians Want to Keep Abortion as Crime." (April 12, 2007). Angus Reid Global Monitor. Retrieved June 20, 2007.
- ^ Brazil attacks church opposition to girl's abortion Stuart Grudgings, Reuters. Retrieved 2010-4-13.
See also
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