Brazilian judge refuses abortion for fetus without brain

A Brazilian judge has refused to grant a woman an abortion of a fetus developing without a brain after deciding "there was no imminent danger of death for the mother," the daily Estado de Sao Paulo reported Tuesday.

The judge ruled that, under the circumstances, granting a termination of the pregnancy would violate the right to life enshrined in Brazilian law, which prohibits abortions with rare exceptions, the newspaper said in the report carried on its website.