In Brazil, the Penal Code dates from 1940 andestablishes that abortion is a crime but notpunishable in three cases: if the woman’s lifeis at risk, if pregnancy results from rape, andmore recently (since a court judgement in 2012)in cases of fetal anencephaly.7All other abor-tions are punishable with 1–10 years in prisonboth for the woman and for the person whocarried out the abortion.
In my opinion, Brazil government should provide the proper education of contraceptives to public before they strictly ban abortion in law. Effective birth control methods can reduce the illegal abortion rate from unwanted pregnancies.




