Minister calls isolated discussion of abortion “irresponsible”

Minister Cida Gonçalves, from the Ministry of Women, classified the discussion on abortion as “irresponsible” if treated solely for that reason without a more in-depth debate on family planning and contraceptive methods.

The criticism of the discussion comes after Minister Rosa Weber, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), voted in favor last year and had the Court process paralyzed by Luís Roberto Barroso after taking office as president, in September 2023. For him , the topic still needs more public clarification about the core of the issue, which is not decriminalization itself.

Cida Gonçalves states that the issue of abortion has started to be discussed in isolation, but that it is necessary to go further and debate other points.

“What we advocate is that you have emergency contraception. The rape happened, you go to a health center to receive emergency contraception. That fell apart. So, today, discussing abortion just for the sake of discussing abortion is irresponsible, I would say,” he said in an interview with Newspaper published this Monday (18).

According to the minister, public policies relating to this have been “destroyed” in the last six years, with a reduction in the “little service network of professionals who were willing to do this work”. For her, Brazil is experiencing a “setback” and “does not accept discussing family planning, a country that does not accept discussing the morning-after pill, a country that does not accept advertising”.

“They involve discussing the possibility of the couple, not just the woman, the man and the woman, carrying out family planning, deciding when to have children, the way and conditions for having that child. This means having general monitoring to make this happen. […] We have conscientious objection in Brazil”, he states, defending the holding of a public debate on abortion and family planning.

Despite defending these themes in a related way, she states that there is still no project ready to be taken to the Ministry of Health.

Since taking office as president of the STF, Luís Roberto Barroso has been delaying the progress of the discussion on abortion opened in the Court by his predecessor, minister Rosa Weber. In several interviews, he was against the practice, stating that “abortion is an undesirable thing.”

However, he also always reiterated that criminalizing the woman who turns to him — “who experienced this misfortune” — “doesn’t serve any purpose.”

“I think that making society aware that being against abortion, not practicing abortion, preaching against abortion, does not mean that women who have gone through this misfortune should be arrested. Abortion is an undesirable thing, something to be avoided . The role of the State is to prevent this from happening, as far as possible, by providing sexual education, contraceptives and supporting the woman who wants to have a child. But putting her in jail, if she has experienced this misfortune, serves absolutely no purpose. It is criminalization is bad public policy”, he stated during the plenary session of the National Council of Justice (CNJ) at the beginning of the month.