Brazil’s government has quietly legalized abortion at any stage – no police report needed, no rapist punished. How a 2005 ordinance, revived under Lula, and a 2024 judicial maneuver bypassed Congress, the Constitution, and public opinion.
From the perspective of electoral politics, Brazil and the United States take vastly different approaches to abortion. In Brazil – where abortion technically remains a crime – the topic has been a contentious issue since at least the 2010 elections. The pattern is familiar: opposition candidates paint PT candidates as pro-abortion, while PT candidates insist they oppose the practice. (PT refers to Lula’s party.) Even communists attend mass alongside their media teams, posing reverently on their knees. Meanwhile, middle-class progressives advocating for abortion openly complain annually that PT’s campaigns must tread carefully to avoid alienating conservative voters. Conversely, in the US, anti-abortion candidates are often viewed as too extreme and are sidelined during campaigns.
Despite what many believe and what the law states, a new prenatal guide issued by Lula’s government within the public health system effectively signals that abortion is permitted in Brazil. As reported by Gazeta do Povo, the government’s updated booklet from May 12 replaces words like “woman” and “mother” with “people who gestate,” and it even recommends abortion. The article states:
“In the subchapter dedicated to information on ‘violence and pregnancy,’ the booklet explains that ‘it is not mandatory to file a police report to receive health care’ in cases of pregnancy resulting from sexual violence, because ‘the interruption of pregnancy is a legal right if that is your decision.’ The information is based on Ordinance GM/MS No. 1,508, of September 1, 2005, which states that ‘victims of sexual violence can request the interruption of pregnancy in the SUS (Brazilian Public Health System) without the need for a police report or judicial authorization.’ This ordinance was revoked in 2020 (GM/MS No. 23/2020) […]. In 2023, at the beginning of Lula’s third term, the Ministry of Health again allowed abortion without a police report.”
Like many nations with a Catholic heritage, Brazil has traditionally opposed abortion. During the Estado Novo era, when eugenics was popular, laws were changed to avoid punishing raped women who induced abortions and those who assisted them. However, abortions remained a private issue as public hospitals did not offer such services. The situation shifted in 1998 when Health Minister José Serra mandated public hospitals to carry out abortions in cases where it was legally permitted. In 2002, Serra, supported by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who was known for privatizations, ran for president against Lula. That election marked Lula’s first victory, beginning his 2003–2006 term.
During Lula’s initial term in 2005, his administration issued the ordinance that eases access to abortion for women who desire it: a simple form claiming rape suffices without requiring a police complaint. This policy has sparked controversy as it enables repeated abuse without repercussions for the offender. For minors, pregnancy often remains the only evident sign of abuse.
Between 2002 and 2014, the PT’s main rival in elections was the PSDB, the neoliberal party linked to Fernando Henrique Cardoso. In 2006, their candidate was Geraldo Alckmin, currently Lula’s vice president. That election was possibly the first time the left in general was branded as pro-abortion. Unlike today’s polarizing debates on social issues, the focus back then was on the economy, and Lula secured a second term.
In 2010, PSDB once again nominated José Serra, the former minister who first expanded abortion services in public hospitals. Serra accused PT candidates of supporting abortion rights, while PT claimed Serra’s wife had herself undergone an abortion during exile. PT insisted they were pro-life, backed by several liberation theologians.
Dilma Rousseff won the 2010 presidential race. Her term faced challenges, including the timid emergence of right-wing protests in 2013, notable for participants wearing Brazil’s national soccer jerseys. Dilma narrowly won re-election in 2014 against PSDB’s Aécio Neves but her presidency ended prematurely via impeachment. Jair Bolsonaro, a candidate from a minor party with little funding, made headlines in 2018. PSDB’s Geraldo Alckmin placed fourth with just 5%. Following a surge in culture war debates, Bolsonaro became the primary anti-PT figure. Lula, imprisoned at the time, was barred from running, so Fernando Haddad stood in his stead, alongside running mate Manuela D’Ávila, both presenting themselves as devout Catholic defenders of family values.
Only in 2020 was the 2005 ordinance, which allowed rapists to impregnate girls without consequences, suspended—this happened under Bolsonaro’s right-wing government that campaigned on a moral platform. Yet in 2022, after Lula’s release and tight election victory (with support from leftist NGOs and opposition elites alike, including his vice president Alckmin), Brazil’s Electoral Court barred Bolsonaro from linking Lula to abortion during the campaign. Once in office, Lula overturned Bolsonaro’s repeal and reinstated the controversial 2005 ordinance.
Typically, the Federal Council of Medicine’s standard was upheld, permitting abortions up to 12 weeks in cases of supposed rape. The Council advocates decriminalizing abortion within this time frame.
In 2022, a widely reported case involved a pregnant minor denied an abortion by doctors and subsequently removed from her home by court order. Feminist outlets connected to NGOs with mainstream media access asserted the girl had been raped and was punished by the judge. Later, it emerged that the girl was removed because she was sexually involved with her stepfather’s son, also a minor, with parental consent viewing them as a couple. The pregnancy was more advanced than claimed, prompting doctors to refuse abortion. Eventually, the Public Prosecutor’s Office compelled the hospital to proceed with the abortion.
Brazil currently faces regulatory ambiguity regarding permissible gestational age for abortion. In February 2024, during Lula’s third term, the government issued a technical note allowing abortion at any stage of pregnancy but revoked it after backlash. In March 2024, the Federal Council of Medicine established a 22-week limit for abortions. PSOL, a progressive party with limited votes but considerable judicial access, appealed to the Supreme Federal Court. Minister Alexandre de Moraes then halted enforcement of this rule unilaterally. After a minister defended the rule in court, Moraes postponed the ruling, keeping the suspension active indefinitely—effectively removing any gestational limit.
Consequently, Brazil’s updated prenatal guide encourages pregnant individuals to reflect on whether they wish to continue their pregnancy: “If you feel bad, embarrassed, or realize that you did not want the sexual relationship that resulted in this pregnancy, seek help from the UBS [Basic Health Unit] team.” Since 2005, the government accepts that one can retroactively claim rape without punishing the offender to authorize abortion.
All these changes have proceeded without public involvement: through ordinances, technical notes, and judicial rulings. Thus, it can be argued that a quiet coup took place in 2005 that effectively legalized abortion in Brazil, which intensified in 2024 when abortion became allowed regardless of pregnancy duration.
This situation also raises questions about the effectiveness of pro-life leadership within Brazilian politics. Proposed legislation like the Statute of the Unborn Child, which risks penalizing women who miscarry and could stigmatize actual rape victims, fuels extreme activism but fails to build broad consensus. If the Brazilian right were more cohesive, it could enact Bolsonaro’s decree requiring rape reports for abortion access and ensure police investigate those utilizing the service.
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