Brazil: Catholic Church Launches Campaign Against Abortion

The National Bishops’ Conference of Brazil is attacking abortion with the 2008 Lenten campaign devoted to “The defense and promotion of human life, from conception until natural death.” The objective is to prevent the Brazilian Parliament from approving a more permissive legislation concerning abortion, which at present is allowed when the mother’s life is endangered or in case of rape. Last May, on the occasion of his visit to Brazil, Benedict XVI had condemned abortion and extolled “the respect of life from its conception until its natural end.”

The government is presently involved in a policy to prevent undesired pregnancies by free distribution of condoms and morning-after pills. According to the International Federation of Family Planning, there are over a million clandestine abortions in Brazil every year.

A year ago, the Health Minister José Gomes Temporao was advocating a referendum on the decriminalization of abortion. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, president at the time, had declared: “As a private citizen, I am against abortion. But as the head of State, I am in favor of abortion being considered as a matter of public health.” (Sources: AFP/Apic)