After Barroso’s request, Fachin schedules extraordinary session to judge decriminalization of abortion

The decision complied with a request from Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, who wants to express his opinion on the matter. Barroso’s request was made on the eve of his departure from the Court, scheduled for this Saturday. Last week, the minister announced his decision to retire early. He could have remained on the bench until 2033, when he turns 75. In his request to Fachin, Barroso cited ‘exceptional urgency’ due to his retirement. ‘After canceling my request for a special highlight and facing exceptional urgency due to my retirement with effect from 10/18/2025, I request the Presidency of this Court (…) to convene an extraordinary virtual session of the Plenary for the continuation of the trial,’ said Barroso. The minister’s vote will be added to that of the former rapporteur, Minister Rosa Weber, who expressed support for decriminalization shortly before retiring in 2023. At the time, Rosa stated that ‘motherhood is a choice, not coercive obligation’ and classified criminalization as a form of institutional violence against women. Barroso had removed the case from the virtual plenary in September 2023, when he requested a special highlight right after Rosa Weber’s vote. On Friday, he canceled the highlight, bringing the discussion back to the virtual environment. As president of the Supreme Court for the past two years, it was up to the minister to include the case on the agenda, but he chose not to do so during his tenure, considering that the societal debate was not ‘mature.’ Last week, right after announcing his retirement, the minister stated that he had not yet decided whether he would vote on the action before retiring, fearing a ‘even more turbulent environment.’ ‘I can still vote (on abortion). But the consideration I am making is: we are already living in a moment with many delicate issues happening at the same time, and the risks of a divisive decision creating an even more turbulent environment in the country,’ Barroso declared on Thursday. The action being judged was filed by the PSOL party in 2017 and requests that the Supreme Court exclude abortions performed within the first 12 weeks of gestation from the scope of two articles of the Penal Code. The party argues that criminalization violates constitutional principles such as human dignity, equality, freedom, health, and women’s sexual and reproductive rights.