AMERICA/BRAZIL - Any attack against life is also an attack against the democratic rule of law, dignity and social welfare

Friday, 20 January 2023 abortion episcopal conferences laws human life human rights

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Brasilia (Agenzia Fides) - "We must remember that any attack on life is also an attack on the democratic rule of law and constitutes an attack on dignity and social well-being". This is underlined by the Brazilian bishops, in a note in which they express their disagreement with any initiative that makes abortion more flexible, such as the latest measures of the Ministry of Health, contained in Ordinance GM/MS No. 13, published on January 13.
The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), in its note entitled "Life above all", cites the abandonment by Brazil of the Geneva Convention and the repeal of the previous ordinance that determined the notification of abortion due to rape to the police authorities. The Bishops demand that the Federal Government clarify these aspects, since the defense of the unborn child was a commitment undertaken in the electoral campaign.
"These moments call for wisdom and balance for an effective search for peace", write the Bishops, who reiterate that the Church without partisan or ideological ties, faithful to her Master, "calls everyone to unite in the defense and protection of life in all its phases, a mission that demands commitment for the poor, for pregnant women and their families, especially for defenseless pregnant women". Reaffirming a firm "no" to abortion, the bishops call for the involvement of all in promoting the dignity of every human being.
The President of the Episcopal Commission for Life and the Family, Monsignor Ricardo Hoepers, Bishop of Río Grande, commenting on the note issued by the CNBB "in which he firmly defends human life from conception to its natural end", highlights the importance of the promotion and comprehensive care of the mother and child, describing as dangerous the path taken by the federal government that leads to the promotion of a pro-abortion culture. "Brazil, all our people, are for the culture of life", he said, citing the results of recent surveys.
"We want to defend life, the culture of life in an integral way in all its phases", the bishop stressed again in a video message. "We believe that it is possible, in full dialogue with public policies, a comprehensive promotion of mothers and children, a comprehensive defense of mothers and children, comprehensive care of mothers and children, thus encompassing all families". "As a Church – he concluded - we will always defend our position in relation to life as something sacred, inalienable, which has a dignity that cannot be ignored. The laws provide for it and our Christian heart certainly confirms, with our faith, that God has given us this great gift that is life, and we have the duty to protect it". (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 20/1/2023)