THE MICROCEPHALY, ABORTION AND THE PRINCIPLE OF THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

Abstract

The debate on abortion is controversial. There is, on the one hand, the moralizing and doctrinal position of religions, which understands the act as a mortal sin and, on the other hand, the juridical view of the criminal offense or its permission in extraordinary situations, such as already mentioned. Because it is a subject of great complexity, there are several factors that influence its criminalization, such as moral, cultural and religious. The latter was considered the great influencer in the elaboration of the Penal Code of 1940, since the religions exercise strong power over the community, denying the legitimacy of abortion, whatever the condition for its accomplishment, not authorizing even the hypotheses that today are allowed by law, that is, in the case of rape and when the pregnant woman is at risk of death. In this context, the present study aims to analyze abortion in cases of microcephaly and the principle of human dignity. It was concluded that, when dealing with the interruption of gestation in cases of microcephaly, the physical and psychological health of the woman, her right to health, physical and mental integrity, of a fundamental nature, must be taken into account. When the problem is found during pregnancy, the woman is direct and first affected, because it is the decision to maintain or stop the pregnancy. Such a decision should not be understood here as a devaluation of human life, but a painful decision, whatever it may be, that will profoundly shake the woman.