Bolsonaro official signed amicus brief against Roe v. Wade

Angela Gandra, Brazil’s National Family Secretary, is among the 141 foreign legal scholars who signed an amicus brief used in the U.S. Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The case led to the overturning of the landmark 1973 abortion case Roe v. Wade, in which the constitutional right to abortion was granted to all American women.

Amicus curiae literally translates from Latin as “friend of the court.” The term refers to a person or group who is not a party to a case, but has a strong interest in the matter.

The brief Ms. Gandra cosigned defends the “inherent right to life of the unborn” and claims “that there is no international human right to abortion, and that international law is predicated on an understanding of the unborn child as a rights-holder.” 

The latter quote is a reference to the December 2020 Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family. The document was signed by representatives of Brazil, the U.S., and other 32 countries – including Bahrain, Belarus, Egypt, Iraq, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sudan,...