BRAZIL
Authin Mail
AFP
BRASILIA — Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday ratified a law aimed at protecting victims of sexual abuse which has been condemned by the Catholic church as a first step toward broader legalization of abortion.
Four days after Pope Francis ended a week-long visit to Brazil, the world’s most populous Catholic country, Rousseff signed the text into law without any veto, her office said.
The legislation mandates that victims of sexual abuse receive emergency treatment in public hospitals and get access to medication to prevent unwanted pregnancies such as the “morning-after pill.”
The Catholic church and pro-life groups had urged the president to veto at least some of the most controversial passages of the legislation.
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