The Human Right to Liberty and Brazilian Abortion Practices Milene Consenso Tonetto
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58 The human right to liberty and Brazilian abortion practices Milene Consenso Tonetto Abstract The aim of this paper is to justify women’s right to abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. Considering human rights as the protection of our normative agency or personhood, this paper will argue that human rights cannot be extended to human embryos and foetuses. In the first trimester of pregnancy, the moral status of the foetus is not sufficient to overcome the woman’s right to the freedom to control her own body. There may be, however, moral considerations other than human rights that could restrict abortions after the first trimester of pregnancy. In order to protect human personhood and the most fundamentally accepted human rights – the rights to freedom, life, health and security of the body – countries like Brazil should decriminalize abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy and provide access to safe abortions through the Atualização public health care system. Keywords: Human rights. Abortion. Reproductive rights. Freedom. Personhood. Resumo O direito humano à liberdade e a prática abortiva brasileira O objetivo deste artigo é justificar o direito das mulheres ao aborto no primeiro trimestre de gestação. Se os direitos humanos são definidos como proteções da nossa agência normativa ou personalidade, então não poderão ser atribuídos aos embriões e fetos humanos. No primeiro trimestre de gestação, o status moral do feto não restringe o direito das mulheres à liberdade de controlar seu próprio corpo. No entanto, outras considerações morais podem impedir o aborto após os três meses iniciais de gestação, tais como: viabilidade, senciência e interesses. Finalmente, o artigo defende que o Brasil deve descriminalizar o aborto no primeiro trimestre de gestação e proporcionar acesso a abortos seguros via sistema público de saúde para proteger os direitos humanos amplamente aceitos, tais como: o direito à liberdade, à vida, à saúde e à segurança corporal. Palavras-chave: Direitos humanos. Aborto. Direitos reprodutivos. Liberdade. Pessoalidade. Resumen El derecho humano a la libertad y la práctica abortiva brasileña El objetivo de este artículo es justificar el derecho de las mujeres a abortar en el primer trimestre de gestación. Si consideramos los Derechos Humanos como protección de nuestra agencia normativa o de nuestra personali- dad, este artículo argumentará que los derechos humanos no pueden hacerse extensibles a los embriones y fetos humanos. En el primer trimestre de gestación, el estatus moral del feto no es suficiente para superar el derecho de las mujeres a la libertad de controlar sus propios cuerpos. Sin embargo, además de los derechos humanos pueden existir consideraciones morales que pueden impedir el aborto después del primer trimestre de gestación. Para proteger la personalidad humana y los derechos humanos más fundamentales aceptados – derecho a la libertad, a la vida, a la salud y a la seguridad del cuerpo – países como Brasil deberían despenalizar el aborto en el primer trimestre de gestación y brindar acceso a abortos seguros a través del sistema público de salud. Palabras clave: Derechos humanos. Aborto. Derechos reproductivos. Libertad. Personeidad. Doutora [email protected] – Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis/SC, Brasil. Correspondência Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Departamento de Filosofia. Rua Eng. Agrônomo Andrei Cristian Ferreira, s/n, Trindade CEP 88040-900. Florianópolis/SC, Brasil. Declara não haver conflito de interesse. 58 Rev. bioét. (Impr.). 2018; 26 (1): 58-66 http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1983-80422018261226 The human right to liberty and Brazilian abortion practices The public discussion of abortion is sometimes The commitment to protect normative agency framed as a conflict of rights between the foetus includes the rights to life, liberty and security of and the pregnant woman. On one hand, the anti- the body. These rights can justify the human right abortion movement argues that the foetus has the to safe abortion in early stages of pregnancy. It is right to life, and that the decision to undergo an reasonable, therefore, to also consider that abortion abortion deprives it of the good of life. On the other, can be seen as an essential health care service. For the pro-choice position claims that the woman has this reason, countries should provide access to the right to have an abortion at any stage of her abortion through their public health care systems in pregnancy. The legal prohibition of abortion appears the circumstances listed previously. to be against the woman’s right to autonomy and In Brazil, legal access to the termination of control over her own body. a pregnancy is highly restricted. According to the This paper will argue that neither approach Brazilian Penal Code of 1940, abortion is a crime is an appropriate way of dealing with abortion. except to save the life of the woman or when Based on normative agency, I will argue that human pregnancy is the result of rape 1. In 2012, the Supreme rights cannot be extended to human foetuses. This Court also authorized the “therapeutic anticipation Atualização does not mean, however, that foetuses have no of delivery” in cases of foetal anencephaly. A recently moral value. Denying the rights of the foetus does proposed bill, PL no. 5,069/2013 2, approved by the not diminish its moral significance. Considering House Committee on Constitution and Justice, seeks the moral status of foetuses at different stages of to amend the Penal Code in order to restrict legal pregnancy means the woman’s right to absolute access to abortion. autonomy in the control of her own body cannot The last section of this paper will analyse be justified. the proposed bill. My initial hypothesis is that it In the first trimester of pregnancy, questions is an attempt to hinder access to legal abortion about abortion must be settled by considering the and to regulated care protected by Brazilian Law right to liberty. The right to liberty implies freedom no. 12,845/2013 3, which provides for the mandatory of action unless an overriding public interest and comprehensive care of people in situations of exists. Thus, the choice to have an abortion cannot sexual violence. Based upon normative agency, this be plausibly justified only by women’s right to paper will show that the bill contradicts the most autonomy in the control of their own bodies. fundamental and generally accepted human rights Firstly, the supposed right to control one’s to freedom, life, health and security of the body. own body is an excessively broad and indeterminate concept. Secondly, discussing abortion only in terms of autonomy is to ignore a range of other relevant Women’s right to autonomy and the considerations. For instance, the justification of attribution of rights to embryos and foetuses abortion rights cannot be indifferent to the status of the development of human life. We must then In recent decades, grounding human rights in take into account the fact that later-stage foetuses normative agency or personhood has gained strong have greater moral value than earlier stage foetuses advocates. In his book “On human rights”, James as they are sentient and may have interests, be Griffin argues that human rights are protections of conscious, viable and able to live independently of our human ability to form and pursue conceptions their mothers. of a worthwhile life. He refers to this capacity as This paper will therefore argue that only early- normative agency or personhood. The concept of term abortion (up to the 12th week of gestation) personhood can be better understood by analysing should be unrestricted. Up to this stage of pregnancy, the notion of agency. According to Griffin, this women have the unlimited liberty to control their concept can be divided into three clear components: bodies and seek an abortion, and there is no public interest that overrides their right to freedom and To be an agent, in the fullest sense of which we are choose what is best for them. After this gestational capable, one must (first) choose one’s own path age, abortions should be reserved for restricted through life – that is, not be dominated or controlled circumstances such as: risks to the woman’s life, by someone or something else (call it “autonomy”). physical or mental health, foetal malformations that And (second) one’s choice must be real; one must could undermine personhood and cases in which the have at least a certain minimum education and pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. information. And having chosen, one must then http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1983-80422018261226 Rev. bioét. (Impr.). 2018; 26 (1): 58-66 59 The human right to liberty and Brazilian abortion practices be able to act; that is, one must have at least the them. This hardly means that there is no longer a minimum provision of resources and capabilities moral case for caring for the elderly, but agency may that it takes (call all of this “minimum provision”). play a smaller part in it 7. And none of this is any good if someone then blocks one; so (third) others must also not forcibly stop one The vulnerability of infants, children, elderly, from pursuing what one sees as a worthwhile life severely mentally ill and people in a coma imposes (call this “liberty”) 4. a substantial obligation on us. In the natural development of a child, the capacity for autonomy Because we attach a high value to our and liberty appears in stages. Respect for the individual personhood, we see its domain of exercise child’s personhood should therefore increase in as something valuable to be protected. Grounding parallel stages. According to Griffin many children, human rights in personhood imposes obvious as opposed to infants, are capable of normative constraints on their content: they are rights not to agency 8.