Brasilia, Brazil, Dec 8, 2016 / 16:34 pm
Pointing to the example of the United States and other Western countries, the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled that abortion cannot be penalized legally during the first three months of pregnancy.
The court's controversial ruling was issued Nov. 29, after reviewing the habeas corpus petition of five employees of a clandestine abortion clinic in the town of Duque de Caxias, in Rio de Janiero.
Bishop Antonio Carlos Rossi Keller of Frederico Westphalen said that the ruling amounts to a death sentence for the unborn.
"(T)he Supreme Court exists to ensure compliance with the Constitution," the bishop said on his Facebook page, adding that "the Brazilian Constitution establishes that in Brazil there is no death penalty."