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Brazilian committee recommends
decriminalizing abortion |
Rio de Janeiro / EFE
07/29/2005
A committee appointed by the Brazilian government will propose to Congress legislation decriminalizing abortion before the third month of pregnancy, the press reported Wednesday.
The committee, made up of representatives of the executive and legislative branches of government and of civic organizations, is charged with reviewing and recommending improvements to current legislation on the controversial issue.
It is scheduled to vote on a final report on Aug. 1 before submitting it to Congress, the daily O Estado de Sao Paulo said.
"The text is the result of consensus," said committee coordinator Thomaz Gallo, representing the Brazilian Society for Scientific Progress.
Gallo acknowledged the report would undergo heated debate in civil - non-governmental - society as well as in Congress before any of its suggestions are adopted.
The report underscores that, according to the Health Ministry, some 238,000 women are treated in Brazil 's public hospitals every year for the consequences of poorly performed abortions.
The Brazilian government appointed the committee in April and placed it under the jurisdiction of the Special Secretariat for Women's Policies. It is made up of six representatives of the executive branch, six of Congress and six of civil society. |
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