Brazil’s Congress wants to ban all abortions – even for rape victims

In July 2013, millions of Brazilians crowded the streets asking for political change. Just a year later, however, voters elected our most conservative Congress since 1964 – the year the military staged a coup d’état. And this week, we witnessed just how conservative our lawmakers can be. A special committee approved an amendment to the Constitution that would ban all abortions in Brazil, including for victims of rape. The vote in favor of the bill was an astounding 18 to 1.

According to the bill’s rapporteur Congressman Tadeu Mudalen, “life starts at the moment of conception and therefore should be protected by law.” Mudalen is a member of the House’s evangelical caucus.

Since 1940, Brazil’s criminal code has allowed abortions for pregnancies that are the result of rape, or for pregnancies that would endanger the mother’s life. In recent years, women have also been able to abort anencephalic fetuses. Courts held that it would be traumatic to force the mother to bear a child that would invariably die after delivery due to its severe birth defects.

Women who attempt illegal abortions can face prison sentences of up to three years. In February 2015, a doctor from São Paulo reported a 19-year-old girl to the police; she had been admitted to a hospital with signs of internal bleeding that typically follow...