Resumo

DINIZ, Debora. Who authorizes selective abortion in Brazil? Physicians, public prosecutors, and judges to the fore. Physis [online]. 2003, vol.13, n.2, pp. 251-272. ISSN 0103-7331.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0103-73312003000200003.

The Brazilian Penal Code does not explicitly define the issue of abortion based on fetal anomaly. It is estimated that some two thousand abortions have been authorized to date in Brazil on the basis of fetal malformations. The 1990s were decisive for this process of recognition of the right to selective abortion, even though there is still intense court controversy over its legality. The article analyzes the arguments used by physicians, lawyers, public prosecutors, and judges to justify the morality of the first request for selective abortion in the Federal District in 1995.

Palavras-chave : Selective abortion; abortion due to fetal malformation; feminist bioethics.