The president of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (Progressive Party), made a statement on Tuesday night (18) about Bill 1904/2024, which criminalizes rape victims by equating legal abortion after 22 weeks of gestation to homicide. Accompanied by the college of leaders, he said the bill will be analyzed in the second half of the year, after the recess, in a "collaborative commission." Nominations for the committee that will debate the text will start in August.
"The college of leaders has agreed to broadly debate the issue in the second semester with a collaborative commission, after the recess and without haste or rush," he said. There was no room for questions from journalists.
Lira didn't talk about withdrawing the urgency of the bill’s processing, as requested by the Liberty and Socialism Party (PSOL, in Portuguese). Therefore, the official legislative way still requires analysis by commissions already set up in the Chamber.
The parliamentarian also tried to defend himself against criticism that he proposed the bill alone. "It is essential to zero all discussions and create legal, moral and scientific certainty. The decision on the Chamber’s agenda is not monocratic. The Chamber has 513 parliamentarians. Any decision is taken collectively," he said.
Criticism of Lira emerged after the urgent vote on the bill was approved last Wednesday (12). The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies put the matter on the agenda without warning, and without announcing the bill's number. He considered the urgency approved in a symbolic vote that took just 23 seconds and without recording the vote of each deputy on the electronic panel.
The political and social reaction against the bill, dubbed the Child Pregnancy Bill and the Rape Bill, was massive. The more radical evangelical caucus was isolated in its defense of the bill, which generated reactions from politicians and people on the streets. In several cities, protests were organized against the bill.
