MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula speaks about abortion and controversy erupts

The difference between Lula and Bolsonaro would be that the incumbent President considers his views need to match the written law

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has once again addressed the issue of abortion and sparked controversies among Brazilian voters ahead of the Oct. 30 second round against the incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

“Not only am I against abortion, but all the women I've married are against abortion. And I think almost everybody is against abortion. Not only because we are defenders of life, but because it must be a very unpleasant and painful thing for someone to have an abortion,” Lula said this week.

In April this year, he said that abortion should be made a public health issue in Brazil and that while poor women “die trying to have an abortion, because it is forbidden,” those who can afford it have their pregnancies terminated elsewhere. ”Here in Brazil, they don't do it (abortion) because it is forbidden, when in fact it should be turned into a public health issue, and everyone should have the right and not be ashamed. I don't want to have a child, I will take care of not having my child, I will discuss it with my partner. What doesn't work is the law demanding that she has to take care of it.“

In 1994 when he was running for President Lula spoke about abortion in the United States Congress. ”Even women who have abortions are against it, but we can't stop discussing the subject in a country where 2 to 4 million abortions take place every year,” he said.

In 1998 when he was defeated by Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB) for the second time, Lula gave an interview to a Catholic radio station during which he discussed the issue, saying he was personally against the practice, but defending that it was necessary to treat the issue as “a public health issue when necessary, even to comply with the law.”

In his 2006 “Compromisso com as Mulheres” (Commitment to Women) document, Lula pointed out that “State and Brazilian legislation must guarantee the right of women to decide about their lives and their bodies. For this, it is essential to promote the conditions for the exercise of autonomy with the guarantee of sexual and reproductive rights.” He also mentioned “proposals for changes in legislation” and “creating mechanisms in the health services that favor women's autonomy over their bodies.

In 2007, Lula insisted that ”I have said in all the elections I have participated in, in 1989, 1990, 1994,1998, 2002, 2006, and I will say it now: I have a behavior as a citizen, I am against abortion. Now, as head of state, I think abortion has to be discussed as a public health issue.“

In 2008, he added that ”it's not about being for or against; it's about discussing it, very frankly. If you ask me, I'm against it, but how many madams go and get abortions even in another country and the poor die in the periphery?“

In April of 2016, Lula underlined that ”I am a Catholic, I am a Christian, and I am even conservative. From time to time they would ask me: Lula, are you for or against abortion? I answered: I, the husband of Dona Marisa, father of five children, am against abortion, but as President of the Republic I will treat it as a public health issue.“

In 2021, he repeated that ”I am not ashamed to say that I, Lula, father of five children, am against abortion. But as head of state, I have to treat the issue as public health. I think abortion is a woman's right. I don't have to be in favor of it, but I have to see to it that everyone is treated with dignity by public health.“

In a radio interview in March 2022, the PT candidate once again stressed that ”I Lula, father of five children, was against abortion, and always have been. Now, as head of state, I need to treat the issue as public health. Personally, that is my thought, but how am I going to treat this as head of state? It is up to the State to give these people the ability to be treated with dignity, this is the role of the State. The customs agenda is not a problem for me. When I present it, it will be discussed in the proper forum, which is the National Congress”, he said.

(Source: Gazeta do Povo)