New Minister Of Women's Issues and Human Rights Is A Female Pro-Life Pastor

Damares Alves says that agency will not deal with abortion and that terminating a pregnancy is an act that lasts a lifetime

Brasília
Future minister Damares Alves during press conference in Brasília - Folhapress

President-elect Jair Bolsonaro appointed the lawyer and evangelical pastor Damares Alvez for as the new Ministry of Women, Family, and Human Rights. The department will also harbor Funai (National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples), that currently is nestled within the Ministry of Justice.

She is the second woman appointed for a ministry in the upcoming administration. Previously, Bolsonaro selected representative Tereza Cristina for the Ministry of Agriculture.

The announcement was made by the future Chief of Staff Onyx Lorenzoni. Lorenzoni had by his side representative-elect Julian Lemos, who has three pending charges of domestic violence against him, made by his sister and ex-wife.

Alvez is a former Senator Magno Malta's cabinet aide. The congressman from Espírito Santo is a personal friend of Bolsonaro's, and his name had been considered for the Ministry of Citizenship, but his name was disregarded after criticism from Bolsonaro's camp. Representative Osmar Terra was chosen, instead.

After the announcement, the future minister promise to end the gender wage gap in Brazil.

Alves said she is against the legalization of abortion, by saying pregnancy is "a problem that only last nine months," while terminating a pregnancy is something that "a woman carries for the rest of her life."

Translated by NATASHA MADOV

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