This Friday (24), the Federal Supreme Court decided, by ten votes to one, to annul two provisional decisions taken by Minister Luís Roberto Barroso last week. The measures authorized nurses to perform abortion procedures in cases already provided for by law.
The decisions had been signed by Barroso on Friday last week, his last day as STF minister. Soon after, he asked the virtual plenary to analyze the topic in an extraordinary session. Although voting officially ended today, all ministers had already registered their votes.
With the plenary’s decision, Barroso’s determinations are no longer valid. The minister had authorized nursing professionals to assist in legal abortions and determined that nurses and technicians could not be punished for the practice. It had also prohibited health bodies from creating obstacles not provided for by law, such as requiring a police report or imposing time limits for carrying out the procedure.
Gilmar Mendes was the first to disagree, stating that the issue is relevant, but there was no urgency for an injunction. Minister Cármen Lúcia followed the same reasoning, highlighting that the topic is of “undeniable importance and gravity”, but that it should be discussed more broadly.
The last to speak was Minister Luiz Fux, in addition to questioning the urgency, he argued that the presence of a doctor is essential in these procedures, as nurses and pharmacists “do not have the same specialized knowledge”.
Before Fux, eight ministers had already followed the divergence opened by Gilmar Mendes. The majority understood that there was no urgent situation that would justify the adoption of provisional measures.
