Committee approves bill restricting abortion even in cases of rape.
By a vote of 18 to 1, the special committee created to analyze PEC 181/2011, which inserts into the Constitution the prohibition of abortion in all cases, including cases of rape or risk of death for the mother, approved the bill this Wednesday (08); the PEC goes to the House plenary, where it will be considered in two rounds; only Deputy Érika Kokay (PT-DF) voted against the measure; for the opposition, the opinion of the rapporteur, Jorge Mudalen, deals with a topic unrelated to the original proposal, which only extends maternity leave for mothers of premature babies.
Brasilia 247 - Only one congresswoman from the special committee created to analyze PEC 181/2011, which inserts into the Constitution the prohibition of abortion in all cases, including cases of rape or risk of death for the mother, voted against the bill. The vote took place on Wednesday afternoon (08). After the 18 x 1 vote in the committee, the PEC goes to the House plenary, where it will be considered in two rounds. Only congresswoman Érika Kokay (PT-DF) voted against the measure.
Opposition lawmakers attempted to postpone the vote on the proposal. Deputy Erika Kokay (PT-DF) raised a point of order arguing that the rapporteur's opinion, Jorge Mudalen, dealt with a topic unrelated to the original proposal. However, the chairman of the special committee, Evandro Gussi (PV-SP), decided that the rapporteur could include a point not present in the original PEC (Proposed Constitutional Amendment) as long as it was relevant to the topic.
For Érika Kokay, the decision constitutes "fraud," disrespecting the 171 deputies who signed the original proposal that only extends maternity leave for mothers of premature babies. The commission was made up of 28 deputies - 24 of whom are publicly opposed to the legalization of abortion, and of whom only three are women.
The original text of Constitutional Amendment Proposal 181/2011, authored by Senator Aécio Neves (PSDB-MG), dealt with the expansion of labor rights, such as increasing maternity leave for women whose children were born prematurely. However, this good intention is considered a "Trojan Horse" by activists and organizations that defend legal abortion and women's reproductive rights.
All of this is because the original text was substantially modified in December, following pressure from the religious lobby in Congress. The religious lobby led the Speaker of the House, Rodrigo Maia, to establish such a commission to discuss abortion. The measure is a reaction to the Supreme Federal Court's (STF) decision to decriminalize abortion in the first trimester.
The rapporteur, Deputy Tadeu Mudalen (DEM-SP), took the opportunity to include the word "conception" in the text that amends two articles of the Constitution, defining life as beginning in the mother's womb. This definition, defended by those opposed to abortion, would make any discussion on the subject impossible, in addition to criminalizing cases where the procedure is currently permitted.
Around 20% of Brazilian women, by the age of 40, have had at least one abortion. Many have resorted to illegal procedures: 1 million unsafe procedures are performed annually in Brazil. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every two days a woman dies from complications resulting from illegal abortion in Brazil.