PP could be a key player in the approval of the “Statute of the Unborn Child”

In response to the STF’s judicial activism in relation to ADPF 442, an action that calls for the decriminalization of abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy, federal deputies want to take the bill that creates the “Statute of the Unborn Child” straight to the plenary. With recently released conservative guidelines, the Progressive Party (PP) could be fundamental for the proposal to advance in the House.

The proposal is among the most advanced when it comes to defending embryos and fetuses. Federal deputies have already collected the 257 signatures necessary to present the urgent request and take the project to be discussed and voted on in the plenary.

This week, the PP approved the “Central Agenda”, a document of guidelines that must be followed by members. Among the values ​​contained in the letter, the party says it defends life “from its conception to old age”, religious freedom, the appreciation of the family and the fight against drugs.

Pressure from fellow deputies caused the leader of the Progressive Party (PP) block in the Chamber, Deputy Doctor Luizinho, to sign the request. Luizinho’s signature resulted in the support of the 174 parliamentarians belonging to the bloc. Now, both the urgency request and the bill (later, if the request is approved) will still need to be guided by the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), who also belongs to the party.

After years of stalling, at the end of 2022 there was an attempt to approve the “Statute of the Unborn Child” in the Women’s Commission, which had the support of the president of the commission at the time, former deputy Kátia Sastre, and the number of votes necessary to to spend. But, at the time, the rapporteur deputy Emanuel Pinheiro Neto (MDB-MT) withdrew, at the time of the vote, his opinion that he was against abortion due to the influence of feminist groups.

“There were several regimental maneuvers by those who were against the project, in addition to the rapporteur himself who, during the election period, sided with the current president”, comments Government relations specialist, Andrea Hoffmann. During this year, pro-life parliamentarians pressured the current president of the Women’s Commission, Lêda Borges (PSDB-GO), to appoint a new rapporteur to the PL of the Statute of the Unborn. Without responses from the president, the bill was stuck in committee.