The Church has its Opinion, but the Ministry of Health in Brazil Works in Defense of Life

Yesterday my "brazilian mom" called me into the living room and told me watch the news with her. "You know what's happening?" she asked, her eyes heavily focused on me. "No what?" I mumbled to her in portuguese. "A nine year-old girl in [the state of] Pernambuco was raped by her step-father and impregnated with twins. She was granted an abortion yesterday and now the archbishop of Recife Olinda has called for the ex-communication of her, her family and the doctors that performed the abortion."

I am currently in Rio de Janeiro on a Fulbright scholarship studying development and it's relationship to reproductive and sexual health and rights in Brazil. I was an exchange student here 10 years ago and had no idea I'd be back hanging out with my host family for awhile before I begin my project. I must say that I really hate the fact that this is my first blog post on this journey.  This is the kind of story that makes you feel like you have a big black hole where your heart used to be, which automatically gives you indigestion. I really wanted my first post to be about my struggle hating and loving the rigid gender roles here in Brazil. (Yes, I admit it. I love getting my nails done evey week and buying shoes like they just might be the last pair on earth. However, I'm not sure I can handle the braziian bikini (who knew I had all those stretch marks stripped across my ass?) or the brazilian bikini wax, and I can't believe I actually thought about getting botox injected into my armpit after my brazilian sister told me she was going to.)

So, in case you haven't read about it already, here is the story: A nine-year old girl was raped by her stepfather. As I understand, she was about 12 weeks along with twins when the doctors realized she was pregnant. Under brazilian law, abortion is only permitted in cases of rape or to save the life of the woman. In this case, this poor tiny girl was at risk for both. The state granted, in accordance with the family, an abortion. However, the Archbishop of Recife Olinda, dom José Cardoso Sobrinho, stepped in and took the state to court. A little more than a month later, the courts went against the archbishop and Wednesday morning, the girl was given an abortion at 16 weeks (yes, 4 months) along. I just finished watching the news with my "brazilian mom" again and a news flash at the bottom of the TV read something like, "The Archbishop of Recife Olinda called for the ex-communication of the doctors that performed the abortion and the family that permitted the abortion, saying that what the stepfather did was not as serious as an abortion." Apparantly, this Archbishop from Recife Olinda wanted the little girl to try to carry twins and have a cesarean. The good news is that the Catholic Bishops of Brazil have condemned this Archbishop's position, saying that rape and sexual abuse are horrendous crimes, favoring the life of the nine year-old girl.

Graças a Deus. My "brazilian mom" who is more Catholic than anyone I know, who, also, if you will, is not in favor of abortion, although not necessarily opposed, put it to me like this: This Archbishop in Recife Olinda does not reprsent the Catholic church in Brazil,  just like President Bush did not represent the American people. 

Well said. I get it. I think?

I have an appointment with a "brilliant young priest" as my brazilian mom calls him, on Monday. So stay tuned for my next blog and we shall dive deeper into the issues of  abortion and the Catholic church in Brazil. (Alas, my shoe-buying, nail painting, bikini waxing blog will have to wait.) What has been the most fascinating to me about this entire heart-wrenching ordeal, is that the Brazilian Minister of Health, José Gomes Temporão has harshly criticized the Archbishop's position calling the church, "extreme, radical and inadequate" as quoted in the Estado do Minas newspaper. "The church has their opinion," he said. "But the Ministry of Health works in defense of life."  Kudos, Senhor Temporão, you are exactly one of the reasons why I wanted to study reproductive and sexual health and rights in your country.