Jair Bolsonaro’s government is intensifying its international agenda with the aim of expanding the alliance of countries fighting against abortion and making any reference to the practice within the scope of foreign policy. The attack comes with the participation of ultra-conservative US representatives, including former advisers to Donald Trump.
The American movement, in partnership with the Brazilian government, celebrated the US Supreme Court’s decision that represented a radical change in the country’s stance on abortion. Such a measure for the group, which would restrict women’s autonomy, would strengthen the position of countries that want to confront laws that allow abortion.
The decision will be a “major victory” for the group and a “significant worldwide impact”.
Alongside the then American president, Brazil and other countries formed the Geneva Consensus, a coalition of nearly 30 countries, to support their anti-abortion agenda. In the view of the ultra-conservative bloc, any reference to sex education or sexual rights in an international text could be a “gateway” for the abortion issue to finally make its way onto the international stage.
Despite the end of the Trump administration, Brazil kept the alliance active and took a leading role in promoting its ideas.
For example, on 28 June, the government is holding the International Family Public Policy Seminar led by Family Minister Angela Gandra. Officials hope that Hungary’s ultra-conservative president, Katalin Novak, who previously served as Minister of Family in Viktor Orbán’s far-right government, will attend the event. In fact, the Brazilian representative was at the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia last week.
On June 14, Gandra still had a meeting with Valerie Huber, Trump’s assistant in Family matters. On the agenda: next week’s meeting in Brazil.
Huber wrote an email to bid farewell to his partners around the world on the government’s last day in January 2021. But to announce that from then on, the global operation of the ultra-conservative movement will be with Brazil.
He made some of the most enthusiastic comments on social media in support of the US Supreme Court’s decision.
Ângela Gandra met with Itamaraty members this week to set the Brazilian family agenda.
Another meeting took place with sexologist Narine Nersisyan, who had already warned that the return of schools after the pandemic was an opportunity to spread the word about the so-called “new general standards” of education. According to him, there will be “an increase in the number of homosexuals” due to these new standards.
In a film about the Lanzarote Convention, Nersisyan also said that it is too early to teach children under the age of 12 to protect themselves from sexual violence.
Since the beginning of Bolsonaro’s government, the country’s foreign policy has taken some of Brazil’s most traditional partners by surprise. By forging alliances with ultra-conservative governments (Christians and Muslims), Brazilian authorities led the effort to change the international agenda regarding gender issues, the role of women, the LGBT+ movement, and other groups.
The government justified that it turned only one domestic policy line against abortion into foreign policy. But for other democracies in Europe and other parts of the world, the right to reproductive health does not require governments to pass and pass laws that would allow more flexibility for a pro-abortion policy.
source: Noticias
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