Federal Court suspends injunction that prohibited fetal asystole

The Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF-4) suspended the injunction that overturned the resolution of the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) prohibiting doctors from performing so-called fetal asystole. The procedure is used by medicine in cases of abortions provided for by law, such as rape.

The decision, taken on Friday night (26), resumes the effects of the council’s resolution, determining that doctors can no longer perform this procedure on pregnant women more than 22 weeks pregnant.

In the decision, handed down on Friday night (26), the judge argued that the topic is already the subject of discussion in the Federal Supreme Court, in an Action for Non-compliance with a Fundamental Precept (ADPF 989/2022), which deals with actions and omissions by the Ministry of Health that would be preventing abortions from being carried out due to pregnancy resulting from rape, as required by law.

For Leal Junior, as the matter is already being debated in the STF, an injunction to suspend the CFM resolution would not be appropriate.

“In this context, it does not seem appropriate to me that, on a preliminary basis, and without further information, the court of origin suspends the effects of the resolution of the Federal Council of Medicine that deals with an issue that: a) will have a national impact; b) is – albeit under another guise – subject to judgment by the STF; and c) and requires a broader and more in-depth debate”, he argued.

The CFM resolution prohibiting fetal asystole is also addressed in another ADPF, 1,134/2024, filed by Psol, which requests that the council’s decision be declared unconstitutional. In the action, the party argues that the CFM rule restricts, “in an absolutely discretionary manner”, since the resolution does not prohibit the technique in the other two cases in which the legal system allows abortion – risk to the pregnant woman’s life and anencephaly.

According to the party, the ban restricts scientific freedom and the free professional practice of doctors. The party also argues that the resolution, in practice, subjects girls and women to maintaining a compulsory pregnancy or using unsafe abortion techniques, depriving them of access to the procedure and adequate assistance through legal means, as recommended by the Organization World Health Organization (WHO) and the Brazilian Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Associations (Febrasgo) and “subjecting them to health risks or death”.

In March this year, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, demonstrations across the country called for the legalization of abortion in Brazil and the end of gender-based violence. In São Paulo, a march walked along Avenida Paulista (photo) and denounced the deaths of women due to lack of assistance during pregnancy termination.