After being charged, Silvio Almeida refuses to receive a senator’s fetus

The Minister of Human Rights Silvio Almeida refused to receive an image of an 11-week-old fetus from the hands of Senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE), during his participation, this Thursday (27), at the Human Rights Commission in the Senate . The object is a symbol of the fight against abortion and tries to raise awareness that the practice is the death of a defenseless human being.

Before that moment, Almeida spoke about the human rights policy of the Lula government, stressing the regulation of social networks (the government submitted suggestions with risks to freedom of expression for the fake news bill) and the fight against “coup attacks” and “fascists”. Almeida also defended the five secretariats and special advisory services created, with more servers to “maintain important programs”. He also defended Lula’s performance outside the country and the president’s statements regarding the war in Ukraine, which have been criticized for relativizing the gravity of the invasion of Russia and contradicting themselves on several occasions.

When taking the floor, Girão proposed a question to the minister regarding the support that Brazil has given to countries like Russia, China, Nicaragua and Venezuela, internationally recognized as violators of human rights. Among these abuses, the senator cited the lack of freedom of expression and religion and the death of children in Ukraine. He also recalled that Brazil has not signed an international document, with more than 50 signatory nations, condemning the human rights violations of the Nicaraguan dictator, Daniel Ortega.

“this silence [em relação às violações de direitos humanos] Does my question mean that you agree with the human rights policy of these countries? Why doesn’t the current government condemn them, like 50 other countries, and align itself with the international community in what is most legitimate, which is the preservation of life, freedom and human dignity?” asked Girão.

Then the senator said he was going to take advantage of the topic of human dignity to hand the minister an image of a fetus. Girão approached Almeida, who refused to receive the object.

“I don’t want to receive this for a very simple reason: I’m going to be a father now. And I know very well what that means. That to me is a performance that I deeply repudiate. This to me, with all due respect, is an unacceptable exploitation of a very serious problem we have in the country,” she said.

Despite having signaled during the campaign that he would not facilitate abortion in the country, since the beginning of the Lula government and his ministers have approved a series of measures favorable to the death of unborn children.

On January 16, the government revoked an ordinance that required doctors to send information to police authorities in cases of abortion resulting from rape. With the repeal, it is again more difficult for crimes of rape to be investigated and punished. At the same time, it is easier for abortion to be practiced in cases not permitted by law under false allegations of rape.

Another initiative was Brazil’s withdrawal from the international agreement of the Geneva Consensus, in which the signatory countries are committed to defending life from conception, women’s health, strengthening the family and the sovereignty of each nation in global politics. The country’s withdrawal from the agreement, in which Brazil has participated since October 2020, was announced on January 17. Even before that, the Minister of Women, Aparecida Gonçalves, had already confirmed that abortion would be “a health issue” for the government.