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Brazil police break up illegal abortion ring, arrest 47 | Brazil police break up illegal abortion ring, arrest 47 |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Police in Brazil have broken up an illegal abortion network operating in the Rio de Janeiro area. | |
Forty-seven people were arrested as part of Operation Herod, which followed the deaths of two Brazilian women who had illegal abortions. | |
Police have arrested suspected leader, Dr Aloisio Soares Guimaraes and issued a further 28 arrest warrants. | Police have arrested suspected leader, Dr Aloisio Soares Guimaraes and issued a further 28 arrest warrants. |
Abortion is only legal in Brazil in cases of rape, brain abnormalities or if the mother's life is at risk. | Abortion is only legal in Brazil in cases of rape, brain abnormalities or if the mother's life is at risk. |
About 2,000 women are believed to have used the abortion clinics, paying up to 7,500 reais ($3,100;£2,000) for the procedure. | About 2,000 women are believed to have used the abortion clinics, paying up to 7,500 reais ($3,100;£2,000) for the procedure. |
The countries of predominantly Roman Catholic Latin America have some of the toughest anti-abortion laws in the world. | |
Human rights groups and medical associations in Brazil have called for abortions to be legalised in more cases than the law currently allows. | |
A 2010 survey suggests as many as one in five Brazilian women has had an abortion before the age of 40. | |
Facing prison | |
Police said the illegal abortions were performed in "unsanitary places (...) putting the physical integrity and health of the patients at risk". | |
The investigation lasted 15 months before arrests were made on Tuesday. Those detained include six police officers, three doctors and a firefighter. | |
The deaths of two women who sought abortions made headlines recently in Brazil. | The deaths of two women who sought abortions made headlines recently in Brazil. |
In August, the body of Jandira Magdalena dos Santos, 27, was found burnt in a car in Rio following a botched termination - nine people were later arrested. | |
A month later, Elizangela Barbosa, 32, died following an abortion, also in the Rio area. A plastic tube had been left in her stomach. | |
Human rights groups argue that the current rules pose a risk to women determined to get an abortion. | |
Women and girls who violate the ban in Brazil face lengthy jail sentences. | |
The country boasts a growing evangelical movement which is deeply opposed to a change in the abortion laws. | |
Latin America's abortion laws | |
Sources: World Health Organisation, Guttmacher Institute |