The president of the Chamber’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ), deputy Caroline De Toni (PL-SC), scheduled for Tuesday (12) the analysis of a proposal that bans it in the country. The text inserts into the Constitution the right to life “from conception”.
Presented by the then deputy Eduardo Cunha, in 2012, the proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) received a favorable opinion from the rapporteur, deputy Chris Tonietto (PL-RJ). The congresswoman is vice-president of the CCJ and coordinates the Mixed Parliamentary Front against Abortion and in Defense of Life.
The author states in the justification that the PEC extends the inviolability of the right to life to fetuses and considers that life begins at conception, and not at birth.
The proposal has the support of opposition members opposed to abortion. In his opinion, Chris Tonietto states that there are “no incompatibilities between the change that is intended to be made and the other fundamental principles and rules that underpin the current Constitution and our legal system”.
In Brazil, abortion is permitted when there is a risk to the pregnant woman’s life or in cases of rape. The Federal Supreme Court (STF) also decided not to criminalize cases of fetal anencephaly.
The inclusion of the PEC on the CCJ agenda does not guarantee that it will be voted on, however. The rapporteur must still read her opinion and the members of the panel can request a review (more time for analysis) and postpone the vote. If approved by the CCJ, the text must still be analyzed by a special committee and then go to the plenary.
This year, a project that equates the penalty for an abortion carried out after 22 weeks of gestation to that of a simple homicide had the emergency regime approved on June 18 by the Chamber of Deputies.
The text was the target of several criticisms and the president of the House, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), decided not to discuss the matter. At the time, he stated that nothing in the project would “retroact the rights already guaranteed” and that the debate would be resumed in the second half of the year through a “representative commission”, which has not yet been created.
