Lisbon, May 27, 2025 (Lusa) - The Regulatory Authority for the Media (ERC) has received more than 500 complaints about an anti-abortion advertisement broadcast on several channels, an official source from the media regulator told Lusa on Tuesday.
When contacted by Lusa about this advertisement, the source stated that the number of complaints received so far already exceeds 500.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Movement of Women (MDM) complained today to the ERC and the Commission for Gender Equality about the same issue, an MDM leader told the Lusa news agency.
In a telephone conversation, Sandra Benfica stated that the movement has been receiving reports since Sunday from numerous individuals who have seen this advertisement on the three channels and has decided to file a complaint against SIC, RTP, and TVI.
The MDM said that the television broadcast of the video, entitled Obrigado, Mãe" (Thank you, Mother), seriously violates" certain legislation, such as the Advertising Code, which in its Article 7 prohibits advertising that contains discriminatory or offensive elements, including those that undermine the dignity of women" and the Television Law, whose "Article 27establishes that television content must respect fundamental rights and not promote hate speech or discrimination.
As well as the Gender Equality Law, "which defines that any commercial or advertising communication that perpetuates gender stereotypes or violates women's rights may be subject to sanctions", she explained.
According to Sandra Benfica, the movement also told the television stations of the complaint.
The falsehood with which that narrative [presented in the video] is constructed is, in fact, offensive, not only to the rights that were so difficult to achieve, but perpetuates a logic of blaming women, of holding women responsible, of morally offending women," she said.
On Monday, the association Escolha, which supports voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG), complained to the ERC on the same issue, considering that its broadcast as advertising on the TVI channel represents a breach of Law No. 27/2007 - Law on Television and On-Demand Audiovisual Services".
Escolha also demanded that TVI's owner, Media Capital, immediately terminate the advertising agreement signed with Miguel Milhões (Guru Mike Millions) and remove any mention of the video clip from the air."
The "Obrigado, Mãe" video is by Guru Mike Millions, according to his YouTube account.
Regarding the businessman, who owns a sports nutrition company, the MDM states in its press release that " Miguel Milhão is a repeat offender of misogynistic, ultra-conservative and anti-democratic discourse", considering that his political and business project is deeply hostile to women's rights, freedom of choice and human dignity.
He uses his economic power to try to impose a fundamentalist and obscurantist view of women's bodies - as if we were the property of the state, religion or our boss. We are not," it adds.
ALU/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
