Barroso states that abortion is “not a good thing” and rules out discussion in the short term

Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, president of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), stated that interrupting a pregnancy – “abortion” – “is not a good thing”, and that society and the Court itself are not yet ready to judge it. even after the retired minister, Rosa Weber, started the discussion in September. According to the judge, this is a controversial topic around the world and it is no different here in Brazil.

“I want to make it clear that it is one thing for you to be against termination of pregnancy, to advocate that people not do it and not want to do it. It is a right, and we are all against abortion, abortion is not a good thing”, said Barroso in an interview with GloboNews broadcast this Saturday (16).

According to him, Brazilian society and the Court itself are not yet mature for this debate, which still lacks much understanding about what is actually being discussed. The minister stated that he does not intend to put abortion on the table anytime soon, but that this will still happen.

Barroso states that it is one thing to discuss the termination of pregnancy itself, and another is the criminalization of those who resort to this procedure. According to the minister, it is not possible to foresee the arrest, for example, of a woman who decides to abort a pregnancy.

“Abortion is a bad thing, the role of the State is to work to prevent it, providing sexual education, welcoming women who are in an unfavorable situation and want to have a child, providing contraceptives.
[…] Now, treating and imprisoning women as a crime is a mistaken public policy that no developed country in the world practices,” he highlighted.

Luís Roberto Barroso pointed out that this lack of understanding about being against abortion but in favor of criminalizing those who resort to it led him to paralyze the discussion in the STF. He requested suspension of the spotlight after the then president of the Court, Rosa Weber, voted in favor of decriminalization until the 12th week of pregnancy.

Rosa Weber said that women were not heard

The vote in favor of Rosa Weber was one of her last acts as STF minister before retiring at the end of September. She stated a kind of frustration among women on this issue, saying they have been “silenced.”

“We were unable to actively participate in the deliberation on an issue that is particular to us, which concerns the common fact of women’s reproductive life,” stated the minister in her 103-page vote.

Rosa Weber also used part of the vote to criticize the lack of “male responsibility” in addressing the issue. “And even in situations of legal abortion, women suffer discrimination and judgments of moral disapproval from both the social and health bodies of their community”, she highlighted.