Brazil moves to protect minor victims of sexual assault and their babies

Brazil is caught in a heated abortion battle after efforts emerged to protect preborn children who are conceived as a result of sexual assault, and to protect their young mothers from the violence of abortion.

On June 2, Brazil’s legislature approved an initiative that would roll back the liberalized abortion laws for minor survivors of sexual assault, The Straits Times reported. The vote took under two minutes.

Key Takeaways:

• Though a measure revoking a resolution liberalizing the killing of preborn children conceived in the rape of minors has been approved in Brazil, it still has hurdles to overcome.

• According to the resolution, minors who were at odds with their parents or legal guardians regarding their pregnancy could receive free legal support to obtain abortions.

The Backstory:

Draft legislation would suspend the provisions of a resolution from the National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (Conanda) from December 2024, which allowed minors to obtain abortions after sexual assault, regardless of parental consent.

The original regulation read:

The absence of parents or legal guardians does not prevent the full exercise of the right to information for children and adolescents, and it is mandatory that all information and clarifications regarding the interruption of pregnancy be provided in a clear and accessible manner...

It is the duty of the State, the family and society to respect the autonomy of children and adolescents in relation to the exercise of their rights, refraining from any act that constrains, threatens or causes fear, shame or guilt as a result of the decision to interrupt pregnancy.

According to the resolution, minors who were at odds with their parents or legal guardians regarding their pregnancy could receive free legal support to get abortions, the Straits Times noted. 

In addition, g1.globo.com stated, "If the presence of those responsible may cause 'physical, mental or social damage to the child or adolescent, and if they have decision-making capacity', the professional must ensure that the procedure is carried out even without the parents' consent."

In other words, the idea of parental rights or protections was presumed suspect, while the state claimed that abortion was best for the minor regardless of the situation with the minor's parents. No thought was given to the fact that abortion itself may be damaging to the child or adolescent, not to mention deadly to the preborn child.

The Details:

Supporting the new initiative, Senator Damares Alves stated that the previous measure overlooked and undermined the authority of parents and guardians in making decisions about the care of girls and adolescents who have endured sexual violence.

Under Brazil’s penal code, abortion is punishable by up to four years of jail time, except in cases involving rape, risks to the mother’s life, or grave fetal brain abnormalities.

Though both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies have passed the measure, it must still overcome a final legislative step: obtaining support from allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

The debate on abortion in Brazil has been particularly intense because the country’s present law enables abortion in limited cases, including cases of rape. However, pro-lifers have contended that even those exceptions have been stretched into a de facto abortion right that ignores the preborn child’s humanity.

Cases involving minors can be emotionally charged and politically misused. One widely publicized Brazilian case involving a 10-year-old rape victim showcased how abortion advocates often use tragic situations as reason to widen abortion laws, instead of showing life-affirming alternatives to safeguard vulnerable children, without killing innocent preborn lives.

Brazil’s move to limit abortion in cases involving child rape victims is not a reduction in compassion but a refusal to solve one violence by committing another, against another innocent human being. Two wrongs do not constitute a right. Additionally, abortion can also worsen psychological harm by adding grief, guilt, or regret to the original trauma of the victim, particularly when the victim subsequently learns that the procedure did not address her unresolved pain of being raped. 

The Bottom Line:

The rape of a child is a grave injustice, but aborting a preborn child in the womb does not heal the violence; it merely adds to another casualty. The child in the womb is not the criminal and should not be made to suffer and die for the sin of the rapist. As the true culprit is the perpetrator, he should be pursued, prosecuted, and punished to the fullest extent of the law. 

The most life-affirming response is immediate protection, trauma-informed care, prosecution of the rapist, and practical support for the mother and preborn child, instead of abortion.