CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY, OCT. 29. 2007

Rio de Janeiro - The governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral, has proposed legalizing abortion as means for reducing the number of criminals in the country.

Cabral caused a firestorm when he told the G1 news website, “It is an issue that unfortunately is not discussed because of a lack of courage. The issue of the termination of pregnancies has everything to do with public violence,” he said.

He argued that the prohibition against abortion directly causes more violence because those with higher incomes have fewer children, while the poor have more children.

“All you have to do is compare the number of children per mother in Lago, Tijuca, Meier and Copacabana (middle and upper class neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro), where incomes are similar to those in Sweden, with that of Rocinha (the largest poor area of the city), where incomes are at the same levels as Zambia and Gabon. This is a factory for producing marginalized people,” Cabral said.

“To not offer something in the public system for these (poor) girls to terminate their pregnancies is crazy,” Cabral stated, adding that although he is Catholic, he considers it “backward” that abortion is not legal in Brazil.