A lawyer association in São Paulo approved a document claiming that abortion is murder. The text, written by the human rights commission of Instituto dos Advogados de São Paulo (Institute of São Paulo Lawyers) says: "There's no denying, death is death." And continues: "Nobody is free to take a life, not even a living embryo's mother."
Founded in 1974 with the goal of improving the study and practice of law, the institute gathers some of the most prominent Brazilian lawyer. With around 900 members, it counts as a honorary member Brazil's Supreme Court justice Ricardo Lewandowski and former justices Antonio Cezar Peluso and Sepúlveda Pertence.
The document was approved on August 13th and sent to Supreme Court justice Rosa Weber, who is reviewing a motion to decriminalize abortions until the 12th week of pregnancy.
The motion was registered last year by left-wing political party PSOL (Socialism and Liberty Party), arguing that the reasons cited by Brazil's 1940 Penal Code to criminalize abortion "violate the fundamental principles of human dignity, of outlawing use of torture and inhumane or degrading treatment, and the main right for health care and family planning for women, female teenagers and girls."
In early August, the Supreme Court held a public hearing as part of trial preparation, whose date is still undefined.
Currently, Brazilian law only allows abortion in three types of pregnancies: the ones resulting from rape, or causing death risk to the mother or an anencephalic fetus.
Translated by NATASHA MADOV
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