“Abortion of a baby that can survive is analogous to infanticide”, says bioethics expert

The possibility of carrying out an abortion on babies who already have the ability to survive outside the womb is analogous to infanticide, according to Lenise Garcia, doctor in microbiology and immunology and specialist in bioethics. The presentation of a technical note from the Ministry of Health, this Wednesday (28), removed the time limitation of 21 weeks and 6 days for carrying out abortions in cases of rape, risk of death for the woman and anencephalic fetuses . After the repercussion, the Minister of Health, Nísia Teixeira, suspended the note alleging “the document did not go through all the necessary spheres”.

Abortion is a crime in Brazil, regardless of gestational age, even though the legislation does not punish mothers and doctors responsible for carrying out the practice in the cases mentioned. However, the situation is even more serious when the baby, who already has the ability to survive, can be killed. Before the 22nd week, the baby’s right to life is also inviolable, but from this gestational age onwards there is the possibility for the baby and mother to have their rights guaranteed by giving birth.

“If you have a seven-month-old child and you ‘interrupt the pregnancy’, that is, you take it out of the womb, it will be born alive. So that this child is not born alive, it is necessary to kill it while it is still in its mother’s womb. This is intrauterine infanticide”, explains Lenise Garcia.

Advances in technology increasingly allow premature babies to survive

The ministry claimed that article 128 of the Penal Code – which does not punish the crime of abortion in cases of rape and risk to the mother’s life – does not define a time limit for carrying out the practice and therefore women would be able to carry it out. them at any gestational time. The same argument was used when citing the 2012 Federal Supreme Court (STF) decision, which does not make clear the time allowed for an abortion to take place.

According to Lenise Garcia, the medical community uses the term “abortion” precisely based on the criterion of fetal non-viability, as after the fetus is able to live outside the uterus it is already considered a birth. Therefore, Brazilian legislation does not define a time limit for carrying out an abortion.

“We could argue that it is much less traumatic and risky in terms of the woman’s health to give birth and kill the child afterwards. Unfortunately, considering this is really shocking”, highlights the doctor in bioethics.

With the advancement of technology, it is possible for fetal viability to be achieved earlier and earlier. Guinness World Records recorded the birth of the world’s most premature baby at 21 weeks and 1 day of gestation. In 2008, 2 in 10 babies born at 23 weeks survived in the UK. In 2019, the number doubled, rising to 4 survivors for every 10 born.

NGOs want the STF to recognize the possibility of abortion up to 9 months of pregnancy

Since June 2022, the Brazilian Society of Bioethics, the Brazilian Association of Public Health, the Brazilian Center for Health Studies and the Brazilian Association of Rede Unida have asked the STF to consider unconstitutional any administrative act by the Ministry of Health or judicial decision that limits abortion until the 22nd week of pregnancy. Among the requests, there was also the revocation of the technical note “Technical attention for prevention, evaluation and conduct in cases of abortion”, published during the Bolsonaro government.

Abortion NGOs want the Court to recognize the “unconstitutional state of affairs” in the Brazilian public health system regarding the performance of “legal abortion”. The use of the legal thesis has grown in Brazil and is used strategically by the left to advance their agendas through the Judiciary.

“What is the need to kill a child who could simply live and be handed over to be cared for by someone else?” asks Garcia. The Law on the Status of Children and Adolescents already has measures so that pregnant women or mothers who wish to give their children up for adoption are supported by health and social assistance services.

Brazil has more than 33 thousand families ready to adopt, according to data published in 2023 by the National Council of Justice, the body responsible for the National Adoption System. The profile of children most sought after by those interested in adoption are children up to 3 years of age.