Abortion rights, religion and social movements in Brazil: The case of católicas pelo direito de decidir

This work uses the concepts of framing processes and collective action frames to analyze the group Católicas pelo Direito de Decidir (CDD), a social movement organization that is part of the Brazilian feminist movement. The Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir (Catholics for the Right to Choose) are a network of organizations from several Latin American countries that seek to promote women's sexual and reproductive rights. In Brazil, CDD was established by activists who had been part of the progressive church and had worked with Liberation Theology. The master frame with which CDD activists justify their actions is thus one of social justice, derived from Liberation Theology. However, the activists came to believe there is a fundamental contradiction between catholicism such as it is preached by the church and the defense of women's rights. They seek therefore to overcome this contradiction by reframing catholicism in ways that are compatible with feminist ideals. In order to do so, they emphasize the importance of the recourse to one's individual conscience when making difficult moral decisions, as well as reframing life in different terms than those promoted by the catholic church.