In Brazil, an abortion debate pits feminists against the church
Al JazeeraApr 03
Brazilian Congressional Committee Votes in Favor of Abortion Ban
Above: In Sao Paulo, Brazil, hundreds protest a bill that equates abortion beyond 22 weeks as homicide, requesting that Congress permanently shelve it. Image copyright: Faga Almeida/Contributor/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The Facts
A committee in Brazil's lower chamber of Congress on Wednesday adopted a bill outlawing abortion in all situations, including fetal deformity, rape, and when the mother's health is at risk.
The Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee voted 35-15 in favor of a constitutional amendment that affirms the inviolability of the right to life from conception, rather than from birth.
The Spin
Conservative narrative
We can only hope that the new Christian-Evangelical push to protect unborn children's lives will be successful in its efforts to prevent abortion at any stage of pregnancy, especially given that a 22-week-old fetus may be viable outside the mother's womb. Brazilian legislators want to save lives and abolish the abominable practice of abortion. Life does not begin at birth, but at conception.
Progressive narrative
This bill amendment endangers the lives of Brazilian women. Brazil already only allows the termination of pregnancy in very limited cases, and these efforts from Conservative lawmakers will put more lives at risk by making the scarce medical intervention currently on offer illegal. This legislation must not be passed.