The president of Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court (STF) voted on Friday in favor of decriminalizing abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, in a process that began this morning and still has no end date.
Judge Rosa Weber, also rapporteur of the case, considered that the ban on abortion, except in cases of rape, risk to the mother and fetuses with anencephaly, attacks the core of women’s right to freedom, self-determination, intimacy and dignity .
Rosa Weber emphasized that the current standard is “excessive” and “disproportionate” because it “gives absolute priority to the protection of the potential life (of the fetus)” and does not take into account “the equal protection of women’s fundamental rights ‘.
According to the judge, the “most effective institutional design” for the protection of fetuses and women is not criminalization, but government policy that prevents unwanted pregnancies.
Rosa Weber will retire at the beginning of October, when she will turn 75, and had already expressed her intention to vote before leaving the STF presidency. That’s why she opened a virtual voting period, which started this morning.
After her vote, Judge Luis Roberto Barroso, who will be the next president of Brazil’s highest court, asked for the trial to be changed to an in-person rather than virtual mode, paralyzing the vote.
There is still no date for the continuation of the trial, which may be extended again if one of the 11 judges who make up the top court requests more time to analyze the case.
The legal action was initiated in 2017 by the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), a left-wing party, because it believed that the ban on abortion violated women’s rights to equality, dignity, freedom and health.
Brazil’s Congress is dominated by conservative parties, while the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, declared his opposition to abortion during the 2022 election campaign.
Source: DN
