Barroso says he will not consider the decriminalization of abortion in the “short term”

The president of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), minister Luís Roberto Barroso, stated this Wednesday (20) that he does not intend to take action on the decriminalization of abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy in the “short term”. Barroso considers that the topic is “not mature” to be debated by society at this time.

“I don’t intend to discuss abortion in the short term. I’ll do it at some point. I think the debate is not mature in Brazilian society. People are not exactly aware of what is being discussed”, said the minister at a press conference this evening.

Barroso, who replaced retired minister Rosa Weber at the helm of the Court, will hold the position until 2025. Before leaving the STF, Weber favored the decriminalization of abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy. The trial took place in the virtual plenary, but was suspended after a request for prominence from Barroso. Therefore, the topic must be discussed in the physical plenary of the Court.

“People can and should be against abortion because no one thinks it is a good thing. The role of the State and society must be to prevent this from happening, providing sexual education, contraceptives and supporting women who want to have a child and are in a disadvantageous situation”, stated the minister.

The president of the Supreme Court also defended an “enlightened debate” on the topic, as criminalization “immensely harms poor women”. For Barroso, society must be able to understand that “being against abortion is different from thinking that the woman who needed it should be arrested”.

“The debate that arises, however, is whether a woman who had the misfortune of having an abortion should be arrested, which is the consequence of criminalization”, highlighted the judge.

Balance of the year in the Supreme Court and tax reform

Barroso took stock of 2023 at the Court and pointed out that “the year started badly”, due to the acts of January 8, but “it is ending well” due to harmony in the court and “cordial institutional relations with the other two Powers” . This Tuesday (19), the magistrate received President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and ministers from the STF for dinner.

Among the main topics judged by the STF during his administration, the minister cited the recognition of the “unconstitutional state of affairs” in the prison system, the determination for Congress to establish a rule on paternity leave, approval of the judge of guarantees, free public transport on election day.

The minister participated this Wednesday afternoon in the ceremony to enact the tax reform and stated that the proposal “has a very large impact on the Judiciary, because the Brazilian tax system is the most complex in the world”. Barroso classified the tax reform as “highly simplifying”, but highlighted that it must be continuous to make the system fairer.

“The most humble employee of the Supreme Court and I pay the same tax when we make a purchase at the supermarket”, he exemplified. “The reform needs to move from the simplicity phase, which was very important and needs to be celebrated, to the phase of creating a system that is not regressive, income concentrating,” he added.

The minister hopes that the reform can reduce “tax litigation in Brazil, which brings a lot of unpredictability to government accounts and company accounts.”

Barroso signals that he will take action on marijuana possession next year

The minister signaled that he may plan action on the possession of marijuana for personal use next year. The trial was interrupted in August after a request from minister André Mendonça. The score was 5 to 1 to differentiate trafficking from personal use. “It is necessary to make it clear that the Supreme Court is not decriminalizing marijuana. This may be an important public debate, but it is a debate for Congress. What is being discussed in the Supreme Court is the issue of possession of marijuana for personal consumption,” he stated.

Barroso reinforced that the STF’s judgment intends to decide “how much marijuana distinguishes the user from the dealer”. “If the Supreme Court does not define this, the police officer will define it when he catches someone carrying drugs,” he said.

“I’m from rio de janeiro. In the south zone, 50 grams is personal consumption. In the north zone it is traffic. So you start to have geographic discrimination, or worse, racial discrimination. When it’s white it’s possession, when it’s a black person it’s criminalization”, he presented. The minister cited the rise of organized crime and trafficking in Brazil and the need to debate the issue.

“We are going to resume this discussion and here with the clarification, again, no one is decriminalizing anything. We are only making a quantitative distinction,” he concluded.