Brazil's Rousseff denies favoring abortion

Rio de Janeiro, Agency
In her first campaign ad for Brazil's Oct. 31 presidential runoff, ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff said she doesn't favor abortion on demand.

"I want to do a campaign that is above all pro-life, with a commitment to the most sacred values," the Workers Party standard-bearer said in a radio commercial.

While she finished first in Sunday's balloting, Rousseff fell short of an absolute majority and will have to face Jose Serra in a runoff.

Rousseff's message had the support of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who said in the ad that "the same thing" is happening now as when he ran for office in 2002.

"A number of people emerged from the political underworld to say that if I were elected, I was going to close the churches and change the color of the flag. And what happened? More religious freedom, more respect for life, more food on the table and better pay. That is what Dilma will continue to do," the president said.

Several days before Sunday's vote, the press spread rumors that Rousseff was in favor of legalizing abortion, something she has insistently denied, but which could have cost her the support of Brazil's growing population of evangelical Protestants, according to several political analysts.

Abortion is a controversial subject in Brazil, where it can only be practiced under the authorization of a court and only when it can be proved that the mother or the baby is at risk during the pregnancy.

Rousseff's feminine side is also stressed in a campaign ad, in which, the female announcer says she "trusts fully" that the PT candidate will be "a mom" who looks after the Brazilian population "like a child."

The electoral message also points out that the parties making up the governing coalitions won majorities in both houses of Congress.

The Electoral High Court authorized radio and television commercials to be aired starting Friday and continue until two days before the election.