Facing a jammed voting, the Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court-STF approved last Thursday (May, 29th) the embryonic stem cell research. The research is ruled by the Biosecurity Law (Brazilian Law 11.105/05), but it was presented a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality in the STF, asking for a decision against the research. Six out of eleven STF Justices decided in favor of the liberation of research.

One of the most controversial discussions carried out along the process of decision was related to the question: when does life begin?

At least from a juridical point of view, the embryo would not be considered as a person (the Brazilian Civil Code establishes the personality – the juridical concept by which one becomes a subject of rights – begins when the neonate is born alive. However, the question is not so simple since the embryos conceived outside the woman uterus (through in vitro fertilization) would have no life perspective, unless they are implanted in the uterus. Then, one of the arguments for the research liberation would be that the in vitro embryos are useless without an uterus.

The Brazilian law concept of born alive seems to be similar to the one presented by World Health Organization-WHO for the term live birth, as following:

Live birth refers to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy, which, after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life – e.g. beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles – whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached. Each product of such a birth is considered live born. (read more here)

On the other hand, the nasciturus (the child who is to be born) has the “expectation of rights”, as it is called in Brazil. And the Brazilian Penal Code defines abortion as a crime against life. So, it’s not easy to accept the confusion of concepts. The terms personality, born alive and being alive don’t mean the same thing. And the place where a embryo is (inside or outside the uterus) adds more things to be discussed.

So, there are more issues in the subject. Despite of all the controversy, the fact is embryonic stem cell research has the approbation from the most important court in Brazil. The debate continues.

Dear readers,

A new Brazilian law blog is born. The question is: does the world needs a Brazilian law blog published in English? Clearly, English language is important for those who want to talk about subjects that could be of interest to everyone in a global sense. It could be felt that Brazil is carrying out an important role in the international society. So, it’s important to enlarge the means through which this big South American country would be able to communicate with other countries and face new perspectives. That’s what inspired the creation of this law blog.

There are many challenges of writing a law blog. Those challenges become greater when the task include writing in a foreign language. Many mistakes could show up, but I believe that the real aim of a law blog is not to present a grammatically correct arrangement of words and phrases, but an arrangement of really important thoughts and debates toward the freedom of speech, democracy, rights promotion and justice.

The goal of this blog is to spark some debate on contemporary Brazilian law matters. It will work as an extension of my Forense Contemporâneo law blog, which is written in Portuguese.

I hope you like this blog.