UN: Civil society accuses Brazil of violating the right to legal abortion
A denouncement was presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council by nine organizations
Protester is seen with a sign saying “safe, legal and free abortion” during the International Women's Day march, on Avenida Paulista, region central city of Sao Paulo (Photo by Ettore Chiereguini / AGIF / AGIF via AFP)
On Friday (22), at the UN Human Rights Council, nine Brazilian civil society organizations denounced violations of the right to legal abortion in Brazil. In their speech, they call on international bodies to put pressure on Brazilian authorities to comply with laws that guarantee the right to abortion in specific cases.
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The denouncement was signed by Conectas, Coletivo Feminista Sexualidade e Saúde, Anis, Católicas pelo Direito de Decidir, Rede Médica pelo Direito de Decidir, ABIA-SPW, Nem Presa Nem Morta, Cladem Brasil and Ipas.
A summary of points made by the organizations:
1 – Suspension of legal abortion services by the seminal Cachoeirinha Hospital, the only one in the city of São Paulo to carry out the procedure after 22 weeks of gestation.
2- Approval of a law in Goiás that forces people who get pregnant as a result of sexual violence and who request legal abortion, to undergo an ultrasound to hear the heartbeat of the foetus, a situation deemed equivalent to torture.
3- Suspension, in March of this year, of the Technical Note from the Ministry of Health which instructed healthcare professionals to ensure access to legal abortion regardless of gestational age.
