Dino asks Fachin for clarification before ruling on annulling votes in Brazil's abortion case
Religious organizations, including the CNBB, Brazil's bishops' conference, challenge the votes of Barroso and Rosa Weber in favor of decriminalization up to the 12th week of pregnancy.
Translated from the Portuguese original by the Panorama newsroom. Read in Portuguese
Summary written by the Panorama newsroom from the sources listed below. Facts are attributed to the original publications.
Justice Flávio Dino of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) on Wednesday (4) asked the court's technical departments to send information to support the analysis of requests to annul votes in the case on decriminalizing voluntary abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, according to g1. Dino inherited the case as rapporteur.
The requests were filed by the Union of Catholic Jurists of São Paulo (Ujucasp), the Brazilian Institute of Law and Religion (IBDR) and the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB). The first two organizations want to invalidate the vote of Luís Roberto Barroso, cast in an extraordinary virtual session on October 17, 2025, one day before his retirement. They argue that calling the session on the eve of the justice's departure compromised the impartiality of the trial.
The session was requested by Barroso himself and authorized by STF president Edson Fachin. Right after the vote, Justice Gilmar Mendes asked for the issue to be taken to the in-person plenary. Earlier, former justice Rosa Weber, the first rapporteur, had also voted for decriminalization.
The CNBB is also seeking to annul Rosa Weber's vote. In the organization's view, it was only entered into the virtual plenary system after a request to move the case to the in-person plenary, when, according to its argument, votes could no longer be registered.
In his order, Dino noted that the 2025 session was placed on the docket of Rosa Weber, who has been retired since 2023, and that the justice "certainly did not perform any act in 2025" to do so. He said it is necessary to clarify the sequence of procedural and administrative acts that led to the session, including steps taken by the court's presidency, before assessing the claims of nullity.