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AMERICASagainst the journalists and federal authorities called on state governments toensure their police forces provided “special protection” for members of themedia.Six journalists were killed in Brazil between January and November 2013. Two ofthe victims worked for the Vale do Aço newspaper in Minas Gerais state, whereinvestigators concluded in August that police officers were involved in theirkillings. The officers implicated were subsequently detained and charged withaggravated homicide.By November 2013, 16 out of 27 states had passed legislation to implement thefederal access to information law that went into force in 2012. The law establishesthat the public should have unfettered access to information regardingviolations of fundamental rights.Reproductive Rights and Gender-Based ViolenceBrazil’s criminal code prohibits abortion except in cases of rape or when necessaryto save a woman’s life. In 2012, the Supreme Court expanded the exceptionsto include cases of anencephaly, in which the fetus has a fatal congenitalbrain disorder. Women and girls who obtain an abortion outside of these exceptionsmay face sentences of up to three years in jail, while people who performabortions face up to four years imprisonment.In August 2013, President Rousseff signed into law a bill that requires publichospitals to provide comprehensive care for victims of sexual violence, including“pregnancy prophylaxis” for rape victims and information on the right toaccess abortion in cases where it is legal. Rousseff concurrently sent a draft lawto Congress clarifying that “pregnancy prophylaxis” consists of emergency contraception.Sexual Orientation and Gender IdentityThe national Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office received more than 3,000complaints of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)persons in 2012, 166 percent more than in 2011, when the Ombudsman’s Officebegan to track these complaints through a hotline service.219