Categories: Politics

Entities enter the STF to suspend health manual that declares abortion illegal

Entities enter the STF to suspend health manual that declares abortion illegal

Four collective health entities filed, at the Federal Supreme Court (STF), this Thursday (30), a request for an injunction to suspend a manual from the Ministry of Health that creates obstacles to the performance of legal abortion in situations provided for by law.

Minister Edson Fachin was chosen as rapporteur for the action of the Brazilian Society of Bioethics (SBB), the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (Abrasco), the Brazilian Center for Health Studies (Cebes) and the United Network.

The federal government’s guide states that any type of abortion is a crime, and that the maximum time to practice it is 22 weeks of pregnancy.

The Penal Code establishes that the practice can be carried out on three occasions:

  1. When there is no other way to save the life of the pregnant woman – Article 128, 1, of the Penal Code;
  2. When the pregnancy results from rape, if preceded by the pregnant woman’s consent, or when legal representatives are unable to – Article 128, 2, of the Penal Code;
  3. Abortion in the case of an anencephalic fetus – Claim for Noncompliance with a Fundamental Precept (ADPF) 54.

In the request, they highlight that 1,143 hospitals are qualified to perform the procedure in the country, but that most of them are located in the Southeast region.

“Another point to highlight is the inconsistency of the list provided by the Ministry of Health. This is because, in 2019, Article 19 prepared a Legal Abortion Map in which it found that most of those institutions, when contacted, refused to provide the abortion service”, they quote.

They also request the unconstitutionality of any act of the Executive, Legislative or Judiciary Powers, which restricts access to legal abortion.

The measure comes after judge Joana Ribeiro Zimmer prevented an 11-year-old pregnant and rape victim from having an abortion. The case was revealed in a report published by journalists Paula Guimarães, Bruna de Lara and Tatiana Dias, from Portal Catarinas and Intercept Brasil.

Source: CNN Brasil