SÃO PAULO, Brazil – A city councilman in Curitiba, Brazil, presented a motion to the mayor suggesting homeless people should be sterilized. The document was approved by the council and sent to the city government, which is not obliged to follow the recommendation.

Councilor Eder Borges, a member of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party, released the document on Oct. 1. It said that “homeless people who do not accept the appropriate detoxification treatment, social reintegration and other necessary referrals will be subject to the contraceptive interruption procedure.”

“Given the situation of homeless women and men […] and considering […] that the consequences for unborn children resulting from the use of psychoactive substances by parents are practically irreversible, we suggest that the alleged parents be subjected to the introduction of contraceptive methods, such as tubal ligation and vasectomy,” Borges’s motion read.

Although a few council members argued with Borges and said the idea as “Nazi” and “eugenicist,” the recommendation was approved on Oct. 8.

Borges’s suggestion was denounced on social media by Father Julio Lancellotti, a long-time human rights advocate and the vicar for the homeless at the Archdiocese of São Paulo. Lancellotti is famous for his work with the poor and gained a reputation as a left-winger in politics due to his closeness to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Congressman Guilherme Boulos, who is currently running for mayor of São Paulo.

The councilman released a video repeating his goals and attacking Lancellotti, calling him a “communist” and asking him why he defends regimes that have killed millions of people, such as Cuba and Venezuela. Borges also insinuated that Lancellotti is a pedophile.

Earlier this year, a video came to light supposedly showing the priest masturbating during a live call with a minor. The video appeared as part of a campaign of attacks on Lancellotti by right-wing social movement Movimento Brasil Livre (Free Brazil Movement), which has members in legislative houses all over the country. Borges was a regional leader of the organization between 2015-2017.

The video was analyzed by an expert who confirmed its authenticity. But later, a different expert made a new study and debunked the first report, claiming it contained several flaws. The first consultant was shown to be a hard-line Bolsonaro supporter by left-wing media outlets. In February, the Archdiocese of São Paulo announced that, in the face of such contradictions, it had opened an inquiry on the issue. The outcome has not been known yet.

The case sparked controversy among many Catholics, especially groups that work with homeless people.

“We have heard of sporadic cases over the years of women who were sterilized against their will. But that’s the first time a suggestion of such nature has become public,” Ivone Perassa, a coordinator of the Bishops’ Conference’s Homeless Pastoral Ministry, told Crux.

In her opinion, Borges’s proposition reinforced “hygienist stances,” in a reference to the 19th-century ideology that claimed that the poor are dirty and bring diseases to the city, so they must be forcefully removed to other areas.

“That kind of idea is populist. He’s trying to draw support from part of society, as if that suggestion could solve the serious challenges the city is facing,” Perassa added.

Kelly Melatti, president of the Federal Council of Social Service, the State organ in charge of supervising the work of social assistants, told Crux that over the years she has seen many cases of homeless women who were sterilized – with or without a judicial decision allowing it – and of newborns who were taken away from their destitute mothers in the hospital.

“The State doesn’t offer any real alternative for the serious problems regarding inequality and extreme poverty. And some people think the solution is to dehumanize homeless people, especially the women,” Melatti said.

She said that initiatives like Borges’s are based on racism and misogyny and are an attempt to give “easy, moralistic answers to grave problems.”

“The public healthcare system is precarious and must be strengthened with more government funds. That’s the only way to deal with issues concerning the situation of homeless women,” she said.

Most homeless people in large cities like Curitiba are Black, Cristina Silveira de Oliveira, coordinator of the Afro-Brazilian Pastoral Ministry in the Archdiocese of Curitiba and in Paraná State, told Crux.

“With the COVID-19 pandemic, many people ended up on the street. The homeless population in Curitiba is much larger now,” she said. It’s the same situation in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and other state capitals.

The Homeless Pastoral Ministry distributes hot meals every day to hundreds of people in Curitiba. The city government and a number of non-governmental organizations also provide a few services, but they’re not enough, de Oliveira said.

“We have many, many problems. And that idea just doesn’t bring any solution. We received that proposition with indignation,” she added.

Church groups like the Homeless Pastoral Ministry and the Prison Pastoral Ministry have been discussing the issue since last week. The Archdiocese of Curitiba still hasn’t publicly manifested an opinion about Borges’s motion, as it’s waiting to have a meeting with him to discuss the subject. But it’s obviously contrary to the idea, an official of the curia told Crux.

The national Homeless Pastoral Ministry repudiates the project and will work to  impede it to make progress, Ivone Perassa said.

“We think the Executive and the Legislative powers must listen to the propositions presented by the people who are involved in the issues – in this case, homeless women, community leaders, and civic organizations that work on the streets,” she said.

Father José Francisco dos Santos, who heads the Franciscan social action organization (known as SEFRAS), which offers meals and services for homeless people in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, lamented that a legislator came up with such a motion and said that even in the Church many groups agree with such ideas.

“Conservatism is growing in our society, and it’s hegemonic in our Church. In Brazil, conservatives and libertarians – those who support Borges – converge on the hatred of those who are deemed undesirable,” he told Crux.

That’s why, in dos Santos’s opinion, “even Catholics support the castration of the poor.”

“The hatred they feel for the poor is bigger than the doctrine’s teachings for them,” he argued.