The Communication Committee of the Chamber of Deputies approved a proposal that establishes a penalty of up to 20 years for the sale of medicines with the purpose of causing an abortion.
Currently, the Penal Code establishes a prison sentence of 10 to 15 years for anyone who falsifies, corrupts or alters medicines.
The proposal also establishes a fine for anyone who advertises these medicines at ten times the minimum prescribed for health infractions. Currently, according to the Health Infractions Law, the smallest fine for minor infractions is R$2,000. Thus, the fine for advertising abortifacients would be R$20,000.
The approved text is a substitute by deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) to Bill 3415/19. The rapporteur maintained the original version, but chose to incorporate measures provided for in the attached projects that dealt with the same topic (PL 1004/23, PL 1229/23 and PL 349/23).
One of the changes was to replace the term “abortive medicines”, present in the original text, with “medicines for the purpose of causing abortions”. “In this way, uncertainty is avoided regarding the penalization of advertisements for medicines that are not abortifacients, but that can cause accidental abortion”, explained the rapporteur.
Another change was to extend the penalty to commerce or any type of electronic negotiation of products with the purpose of causing abortion, with social networks and e-commerce platforms being obliged to prohibit this type of crime.
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The proposal will still be conclusively analyzed by the Women’s Rights Defense committees; of health; and Constitution and Justice and Citizenship.
