Brasília, July 2, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - In a note released today, the Brazilian National Council of Bishops (CNBB) states that the decision by Federal Supreme Court (STF) Judge, Minister Marco Aurélio Mello, on the interruption of pregnancy in the case of an anencephalic (brain absent) fetus should have been made after ample reflection by society and with the participation of the entire Court. Yesterday (1), the Minister issued an injunction to the National Confederation of Health Workers recognizing the mother's right to interrupt pregnancy in this situation.

In the note, the CNBB affirms that it was surprised by "Minister Marco Aurélio's solitary ruling," judging that there is no crime of abortion in this case. "In this manner, he authorized the voluntary interruption of the gestation of a human life," the note adds.

The CNBB says that it trusts the STF members' sense of Right and Justice to reverse the decision. "In fact, a human life, which is formed in the mother's womb, is already a new holder of rights, and, for this reason, this life should always be respected, regardless of the stage or the condition in which it exists."

The note bears the signature of the president of the CNBB, Don Geraldo Majella Agnelo, the vice-president, Don Antônio Celso de Queirós, and the secretary-general, Don Odilo Scherer.

Translator: David Silberstein