CNJ summons judge and appellate judge who prevented raped teenager from having an abortion

The National Council of Justice (CNJ) has summoned a judge and a judge of the Court of Justice of Goiás to provide information after preventing a 13-year-old girl, who is pregnant and was the victim of rape, from having a legal abortion.

The case is being investigated by the CNJ based on a complaint made by the website “Intercept Brasil”, which stated that the victim had decided to terminate the pregnancy when she was 18 weeks along. However, in addition to the hospital’s refusal to perform the procedure, two other requests to the court were also reportedly denied and the teenager is now in her 28th week of pregnancy.

According to the decision of the inspector Luis Felipe Salomão, judge Maria do Socorro de Sousa Afonso e Silva, of the 1st Children and Youth Court of Goiânia, and Judge Doraci Lamar Rosa da Silva Andrade, of the Court of Justice of Goiás, must provide information within five days.

The magistrate said that the case “requires the action of this National Justice Inspectorate, urgently” and the scenario presented “suggests […] the practice of functional misconduct with disciplinary repercussions”.

A CNN the Court of Justice of Goiás stated that the case is being processed under judicial secrecy.

Legal abortion

Abortion is considered legal when the pregnancy is the result of sexual abuse or when the woman’s health is at risk, according to article 128 of Decree-Law No. 2,848 of December 7, 1940.

Furthermore, it is permitted to terminate the pregnancy when it is noted that the fetus is anencephalic, that is, it does not have a brain.

If one of the three cases occurs, the pregnant woman has the right to undergo the procedure free of charge through the Unified Health System (SUS).

Once the pregnancy puts the life of the woman or the anencephalic fetus at risk, there is no limit to the number of weeks of gestation to perform an abortion.

* Under supervision