Discurso, segurança e economia: a descriminalização do aborto no primeiro trimestre de gestação no Brasil

Abstract

This research investigates contemporary debates about abortion decriminalization in Brazil. Various perspectives exist on this topic, ranging from those advocating for criminalization to those advocating for decriminalization. Our study specifically focuses on the decriminalization of abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. The objective of this study is to critically examine whether discourse promoting abortion decriminalization in Brazil during this period serves as a mechanism of security within the framework of neoliberal rationality. We adopt an archeogenealogical theoretical framework, as theorized by philosopher Michel Foucault, to analyze key legal decisions such as Habeas Corpus 124,306 issued by the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) in 2016 and the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADPF) 442 filed by PSOL in 2017. These legal actions sought the Supreme Court’s assessment of the compatibility of Articles 124 and 126 of the Penal Code with the 1988 Federal Constitution. Our methodology involves analyzing enunciative series and sequences within our research corpus that relate to the thematic axis of abortion decriminalization during the first trimester of pregnancy. We explore concepts such as enunciative function, power dispositif, security dispositif, and neoliberal rationality. Problematic questioning serves as the main thread guiding our theoretical and methodological approach. In the first chapter, we illustrate the discursive event by activating the trimester framework and other relevant knowledge from our research corpus. The second chapter focuses on a specific segment of the theoretical framework for analytical purposes. In the third chapter, we examine the knowledge mobilized in Habeas Corpus 124,306 and ADPF 442, analyzing their contributions to normative-juridical discontinuity regarding decriminalization during the first trimester of pregnancy. In the fourth chapter, we explore the discontinuities produced by the discursive event in relation to neoliberal rationality, considering the multifaceted themes associated with abortion. We also investigate how power dispositifs operate, particularly concerning gender, race, and class, emphasizing the production of positivities resulting from power relations. Ultimately, our findings suggest that power-knowledge dynamics, articulated through discursive materialities, intersect with the economy, using the female reproductive system as a tool for political control.