On Friday August 3rd and Monday August 6th, the Brazilian Supreme Court will hold a public hearing about the decriminalization of abortion. At the hearing, 50 speakers are scheduled to be heard, including health, law and social science experts, as well as feminist and international human rights organizations, and religious representatives.
Perhaps the most creative and innovative response to the various rollbacks on women’s reproductive rights in recent times in Brazil has been Beta, a feminist robot on Facebook, created by Nossas, a national network of citizens’ rights organisations across Brazil. Before Beta was even formally launched on Facebook, “she” organically accumulated 10,000 likes through word of mouth and peer recommendations. Beta works through the Facebook inbox function, and informs everybody who agrees to receive her … Continued
On December 14, the Special Commission did not vote on the amendment to make all abortions illegal in a bill whose aim was initially to extend paid maternity leave for women with premature births. The vote did not happen due to the lack of a quorum. [https://goo.gl/DnF57N]. On December 15, the amendment was set to be put to the vote again, but it also did not happen, as we expected. So the process will continue … Continued
As the turbulence of Brazil’s political climate and sexual politics overall continues, the abortion rights debates decidedly intensified in November 2017 (check here for updates in Portuguese). As reported by the International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion on 24 November, Amendment No.181, a provision aimed at including right to life from conception into the Constitution, was approved by a Special Commission of the Chamber of Deputies on 8 November.
Amendment No.181, a provision to include protection of life from conception to the text of the Constitution of Brazil, was approved by the Special Commission of the Chamber of Deputies on 8 November. It would criminalize abortion under all circumstances. Since it was passed by 18 men to 1 woman, the mobilization against the measure has been intense. A few days ago, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia, declared the amendment would … Continued
When the vote was taken in the Chamber of Deputies Commission, and 18 men voted in favour with only one woman there to say no, it has been reported that the men celebrated by chanting, “Yes to life, no to abortion!” In response, women took to the streets by the thousands in 14 cities in Brazil to say no to the bill and yes to women’s lives. “A rapist is not a father,” declared … Continued
Since Sexuality Policy Watch began systematically reporting on abortion politics in Brazil, they have been tracking how struggles over abortion have reflected a wider, escalating political crisis in the country. In March 2015, when a group of feminists visited the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Women’s Policies to deliver a petition demanding decriminalization of abortion, political uncertainty was already in full bloom. At that time, the newly elected president of the House, Eduardo Cunha … Continued
The criminalization of abortion by the 1940 Brazilian Penal Code is incompatible with women’s fundamental rights enshrined in the 1988 Federal Constitution. This premise grounds the petition presented to the Supreme Court (STF), on March 7th 2017, by the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL) and Anis – Institute of Bioethics. In Brazilian legal terminology this type of request is named as ADPF (Arguição de Preceito Fundamental/ Interrogation of Fundamental Principles). ADPF 442 as … Continued
The headline in the Washington Post on 7 February was: “The panic is over at Zika’s epicenter. But for many, the struggle has just begun.” However; cases have not disappeared, even though the numbers have fallen, and families are coping with the children who were born, as the article reports with many examples.
As many as 70% of Recife’s inhabitants contracted Zika in 2015 and 2016, according to Pedro Pires, an obstetrician-gynaecologist who specializes in Zika. However, that high rate of infection likely prevented a revival of the epidemic in recent months because most of the population has become immune.
Brazil now has confirmed 1,845 cases of congenital Zika syndrome in babies (TORCHZ) in a group of 9,091 suspected cases. A large proportion (56%) of women reported that they had avoided (or tried to avoid) pregnancy because of the Zika epidemic.
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