ADPF 442

{{Short description|Ongoing abortion case of the Supreme Court of Brazil}} {{Infobox court case | name = ADPF 442 | image = Supreme Federal Court of Brazil.jpg | imagesize = | court = Supreme Federal Court | date decided = | full name = Arguição de Descumprimento de Preceito Fundamental 442 (Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) v. President of the Republic) | citations =  | start date = {{start date|2017|03|08|df=y}} | related actions = ADPF 54 | number of judges = 11 | judges = '''President'''

Rosa Weber

'''Justices'''

{{hlist|Luís Roberto Barroso|''Voting is suspended''}} |decision by = Weber |concurring = Barroso |dissenting = |keywords = {{hlist|Abortion in Brazil|Abortion law}} }} '''''ADPF 442''''' is an ongoing case of the Supreme Court of Brazil concerning the decriminalization of abortion, in any circumstance, up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.<ref name="estadao2023">{{ cite web | url=https://expresso.estadao.com.br/naperifa/o-que-e-a-adpf-442-que-pede-a-descriminalizacao-do-aborto-no-brasil/ | title=O que é a "ADPF 442", que pede a descriminalização do aborto no Brasil? | lang=pt-br | trans-title=What is "ADPF 442", that concerns the decriminalization of abortion in Brazil? | first=Schirlei | last=Alves | website=Estadão | date=2023-10-02 | access-date=2023-11-13 }}</ref> As it stands, the Brazilian Penal Code prohibits abortion except in cases of rape and risk to the mother's life, and in the case of anencephalic fetuses (see ADPF 54).{{efn|The following explicit mentions to voluntary abortion on the [https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/decreto-lei/del2848compilado.htm Decreto-Lei Nº 2.848 of 7 December 1940] (a.k.a. Penal Code of Brazil) outline its current legality in Brazil: * Art. 124: causing abortion in oneself, or consenting to someone else causing it: 1 to 3 years in prison (detention) * Art. 126: causing abortion with the consent of the pregnant person: 1 to 4 years in prison (reclusion, see {{ill|Reclusão|pt}}) * Art. 128: abortion practiced by a doctor is not punishable: ** I) If there is no other way to save the life of the pregnant person; ** II) If the pregnancy is a result of rape and the abortion follows consent of the pregnant person or, when incapable, her legal representative

See also: Abortion in Brazil. }}

A positive result in this case would bring Brazilian legislation closer to some of its Latin American neighbors, such as Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Guyana, Mexico and Uruguay.

== Background == {{AbortionLawsMap|size=350px}} The case was brought before the Supreme Court by the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) in March 2017, arguing that the current criminalization of abortion is unconstitutional.<ref name="whats-is-it">{{ cite web | url=https://pleno.news/brasil/politica-nacional/entenda-o-que-pede-a-adpf-442-que-pode-legalizar-o-aborto.html | title=Entenda o que pede a ADPF 442 que pode legalizar o aborto | lang=pt-br | trans-title=Understand what ADPF 442, which could legalize abortion, is asking for | website=Pleno News | first=Leiliane | last=Lopes | date=2025-10-18 | access-date=2025-10-19 }}</ref> The party argues that the Constitution, from 1988, invalidaded what had been in the Penal Code since 1940 regarding abortion: when criminalizing it, the Penal Code can be seen to be effectively imposing a compulsory pregnancy, which would violate a few of the constitutionally protected rights.<ref name="whats-is-it"/> For example:<ref name="whats-is-it"/> * Art. 1st (III): the fundamental right to dignity; * Art. 1st (II): the fundamental right to citizenship; * Art. 3rd (IV), Art. 5th: the right to gender equality and non-discrimination; * Art. 6th, Art. 196: the right to freedom, to health, to physical and psychological integrity; * Art. 226 (§7th): the right to family planning, safe from intervention by public or private entities.

The party also argues that the criminalization disproportionally affects black, poor and indigenous women who, by consequence of their financial situation and Brazil's racial animosity climate, have less access to safe abortions; as opposed to white and otherwise higher class women, who may have the opportunity to, among other solutions, travel to countries where abortion is legal.<ref name="whats-is-it"/>{{efn|See also: Social apartheid in Brazil.}}

PSOL requests that the Supreme Court invalidate prisons and lawsuits related to voluntary abortions in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy; recognize the constitutional right of women to decide on the interruption of their own pregnancy; and guarantee legal protection to health professionals that perform the procedure.<ref name="whats-is-it"/>

== Votes == === Rosa Weber === Former Supreme Court minister Rosa Weber was due for mandatory retirement on 2 October 2023.<ref name="estadao2023"/> As president, Weber brought the case for deliberation and,<ref>{{ cite web | url=https://oglobo.globo.com/brasil/noticia/2023/09/12/rosa-weber-libera-para-julgamento-no-stf-acao-sobre-descriminalizacao-do-aborto-ate-12-semanas.ghtml | title=Rosa Weber libera para julgamento no STF ação sobre descriminalização do aborto até 12 semanas | lang=pt-br | trans-title=Rosa Weber puts up for deliberation on Supreme Court case on decriminalization of abortion up to 12 weeks | first=Mariana | last=Muniz | website=O Globo | date=2023-09-12 | access-date=2023-11-13 }}</ref> as rapporteur, cast the initial, 129-page vote on 22 September 2023 during a virtual session.<ref name="estadao2023"/><ref>{{ cite web | url=https://www.metropoles.com/brasil/rosa-weber-voto-descriminalizacao-aborto | title=Rosa Weber vota contra criminalização do aborto até 12 semanas | lang=pt-br | trans-title=Rosa Weber votes against criminalization of abortion up to 12 weeks | first=Letícia | last=Cotta | website=Metrópoles | date=2023-09-22 | access-date=2023-11-13 }}</ref>{{efn|Minister Rosa Weber's 129-page vote is available, in full, [https://www.stf.jus.br/arquivo/cms/noticiaNoticiaStf/anexo/Voto.ADPF442.Versa771oFinal.pdf here].}} Voting on the case was then suspended due to a request by minister Luís Roberto Barroso for an in-person vote.<ref>{{ cite web | url=https://portal.stf.jus.br/noticias/verNoticiaDetalhe.asp?idConteudo=514619 | title=Relatora vota pela descriminalização do aborto até 12 semanas de gestação; julgamento é suspenso | lang=pt-br | trans-title=Rapporteur votes for decriminalization of abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy; ruling is suspended | website=Supreme Court of Brazil | date=2023-09-22 | access-date=2023-11-13 }}</ref> Weber voted in favor of the decriminalization of abortion up to 12 weeks.

Weber went on to retire on 30 September 2023, leaving the presidency of the court to minister Barroso.<ref>{{ cite web | url=https://www.metropoles.com/brasil/lula-aposentadoria-rosa-weber-stf | title=Lula assina a aposentadoria da ministra Rosa Weber do STF | lang=pt-br | trans-title=Lula signs Rosa Weber's retirement from Supreme Court | website=Metrópoles | first1=Leonardo | last1=Meireles | first2=Marc | last2=Arnoldi | date=2023-09-29 | access-date=2023-11-13 }}</ref> Flávio Dino, Weber's successor to the court set to take office on 22 February 2024,<ref>{{ cite web | url=https://www.cartacapital.com.br/cartaexpressa/lula-publica-a-nomeacao-de-flavio-dino-ao-stf-no-diario-oficial-da-uniao/ | title=Lula publica a nomeação de Flávio Dino ao STF no Diário Oficial da União | lang=pt-br | trans-title=Lula publishes Flávio Dino's Supreme Court nomination on the Diário Oficial da União | website=CartaCapital | date=2024-01-31 | access-date=2024-02-01 }}</ref> will likely not be able to recast a vote in this case.<ref>{{ cite web | url=https://www.metropoles.com/brasil/sucessor-de-rosa-weber-deve-herdar-46-acoes-entre-elas-a-do-aborto | title=Sucessor de Rosa Weber deve herdar 46 ações, entre elas a do aborto | lang=pt-br | trans-title=Rosa Weber's successor should inherit 46 motions, the abortion one among them | first=Manoela | last=Alcântara | website=Metrópoles | date=2023-09-28 | access-date=2023-11-13 }}</ref>

=== Luís Roberto Barroso === On 9 October 2025, minister Barroso announced his early retirement, due for 18 October.<ref>{{ cite web | url=https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/justica/noticia/2025-10/barroso-anuncia-que-vai-deixar-cargo-de-ministro-do-stf | title=Barroso anuncia que vai deixar cargo de ministro do STF | lang=pt-br | first=André | last=Richter | website=Agência Brasil | date=2025-10-09 | access-date=2025-10-17 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite web | url=https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/justica/noticia/2025-10/aposentadoria-de-barroso-e-publicada-no-diario-oficial | title=Aposentadoria de Barroso é publicada no Diário Oficial | lang=pt-br | first=André | last=Richter | website=Agência Brasil | date=2025-10-15 | access-date=2025-10-17 }}</ref> Barroso then rescinded his 2023 request for an in-person vote, which allowed for the case to be voted on remotely; and, on his last workday (the friday of 17 October), the minister concurred with Weber's decision, stating the following:<ref name="barroso-vote">{{ cite web | url=https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/justica/noticia/2025-10/barroso-vota-por-descriminalizar-aborto-ate-12a-semana-de-gestacao | title=Barroso vota por descriminalizar aborto até 12ª semana de gestação | lang=pt-br | trans-title=Barroso votes for decriminalization of abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy | first=André | last=Richter | website=Agência Brasil | date=2025-10-15 | access-date=2025-10-17 }}</ref>

{{ text and translation | A discussão real não está em ser contra ou a favor do aborto. É definir se a mulher que passa por esse infortúnio deve ser presa. Vale dizer: se o Estado deve ter o poder de mandar a polícia, o Ministério Público ou o juiz obrigar uma mulher a ter o filho que ela não quer ou não pode ter, por motivos que só ela deve decidir. E, se ela não concordar, mandá-la para o sistema prisional. | The true discussion isn't whether one is for or against abortion. It's to decide whether the woman who goes through this misfortune should be arrested. It's worth laying it out: if the State should have the power to send the police, the Prosecutor's Office or the judge to force a woman to have a child that she does not want to or cannot have, for reasons that only her can decide. And, if she disagrees, to send her to prison. | lang=pt-br }}

Barroso additionally highlighted that criminalization penalizes, above all, women and girls of lower classes, as opposed to those in the middle and upper classes, who have the opportunity to travel to Uruguay, Colombia or Europe for a legal abortion.<ref name="barroso-vote"/> Barroso went on to empathize with the religious argument, but justified his position by contrasting the Golden Rule with the violence of incarcerating women for this decision.<ref name="barroso-vote"/>

Following Barroso's vote, minister Gilmar Mendes requested an in-person vote, suspending voting on the case once again.<ref name="bbc-after-barroso">{{ cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/c2kpxq5zjn0o | title=Aborto vai avançar no STF após voto de Barroso? Resultado depende do presidente do STF | lang=pt-br | trans-title=Will abortion advance in the STF after Barroso's vote? Answer depends on STF's president | first=Giulia | last=Granchi | website=BBC News | date=2025-10-18 | access-date=2025-10-19 }}</ref>

=== Future votes === Voting on the case is suspended, and it is up to the president of the Supreme Court to decide if and when it will be voted upon.<ref name="bbc-after-barroso"/> However, both ministers Nunes Marques and André Mendonça have openly positioned themselves against decriminalization, believing the country's current exceptions – rape, life of the mother and anencephalic fetuses – to be sufficient.<ref name="bbc-after-barroso"/>

==High Court decision== ===Judiciary representation=== {| class="wikitable" ! Supreme Court members ! width="55pt"|Ministers ! width="55pt"|Yes ! width="55pt"|No |- |align="left"|Rosa Weber |align="center"|1 |align="center"|1 |align="center"| |- |align="left"|Luís Roberto Barroso |align="center"|1 |align="center"|1 |align="center"| |- |align="center"|'''Total''' |align="center"|'''02''' |align="center" bgcolor="#abd5f5"|'''02''' |align="center" bgcolor="#FFDEAD"|'''00''' |- |}

== See also == {{Portal|Brazil}} * Abortion law * Abortion in Brazil * ADPF 54 (decriminalization of abortions involving anencephalic fetuses)

== Notes == {{noteslist}}

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://portal.stf.jus.br/processos/detalhe.asp?incidente=5144865 ADPF 442] updates on the Supreme Court's website (access may be geoblocked)

{{DEFAULTSORT:ADPF 422 V. Brazilian Penal Code}} Category:Abortion law Category:Brazilian legislation Category:Abortion in Brazil Category:Supreme Federal Court of Brazil cases