A survey published in the Folha de Sao Paulo on Monday revealed that most Brazilians (51%) are opposed to “allowing women whose unborn child has been diagnosed with microencephaly to have an abortion”.
Abortion is illegal in Brazil except in the case of rape, when the mother’s life is in jeopardy or in cases of anencephaly. The debate on decriminalisation was relaunched with the Zika virus epidemic (see Abortion: Zika challenges restrictive Latin American legislation). According to the same survey, only 39% of the Brazilians interviewed are in favour of amending the law in cases where foetal microcephaly is confirmed.
Note Gènéthique: The link between microcephaly and infection due to the Zika virus still has not been confirmed (see Zika and microcephaly: no link has been established and Brazilian bishops refuse abortion).
Radio Canada (29/02/2016)