On Saturday (15), the Brazilian Bar Association (known in Portuguese as OAB) published a technical legal opinion which concludes that Bill 1904/2024, which equates legal abortion in cases of rape with homicide, is unconstitutional.
According to the document, the legislative proposal "affronts fundamental constitutional principles, such as the dignity of the human person, family solidarity and the best interests of children. Furthermore, the bill violates the rights of girls and women, imposing a disproportionate and inhumane burden on them.”
The document, which will be handed over to the Chamber of Deputies, where the proposal is being processed on an urgent basis, also calls for the bill to be shelved. Even so, if it is approved, the association states that the issue should be submitted to the Supreme Court (STF, in Portuguese) by means of a constitutionality control action.
"The intended criminalization constitutes a serious violation of women's and girls’ rights, won throughout history amid many difficulties, flagrantly attacking the values of the democratic rule of law and violating the precepts of the 1988 Constitution and the international human rights treaties and conventions ratified by the Brazilian state," the report stresses.
The six rapporteurs state that the bill is an "atrocious, degrading, retrograde and persecutory measure against girls and women, similar to those adopted in the 17th and 18th centuries, when women were burned for being considered witches.”
"Obliging these victims to maintain a forced pregnancy resulting from rape or which poses a serious risk to the pregnant woman's life is undoubtedly in line" with "inhuman [and] degrading treatment equivalent to torture, which we repudiate and have been fighting against," the rapporteurs say.
The bill equates legal abortion in cases of rape with homicide, therefore imposing years in prison. The bill emerged in the Chamber of Deputies on June 12, in a rush. On that occasion, the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (Progressive Party), scheduled the vote on an urgent basis, after a request presented by deputy Eli Borges (Liberal Party), without warning or informing the number of the bill.
In 23 seconds, Lira considered the urgency request approved in a symbolic vote – without recording the vote of each deputy on the electronic panel -, excluding the chance of opposing demonstrations. In general, symbolic voting occurs when there is already agreement among parliamentarians on the matter on the agenda, which was not the case.
