During a phone call, Sandra Benfica announced that the movement had been receiving “reports since Sunday from numerous people who viewed this advertisement on the three channels,” prompting them to file a complaint “against SIC, RTP, and TVI.”
The MDM argues that the televised broadcasting of the video titled “Obrigado, Mãe” “severely violates” certain legislation, such as the Advertising Code, which in its “Article 7 prohibits advertisements that contain discriminatory or offensive elements, including those that undermine women’s dignity,” and the Television Law, whose “Article 27 mandates that television content respect fundamental rights and not promote hate speech or discrimination.”
Additionally, the “Gender Equality Law specifies that any commercial or advertising communication perpetuating gender stereotypes or violating women’s rights may be subject to sanctions,” she explained.
Sandra Benfica mentioned that the movement also informed the television directors about the complaint.
“The falsehood with which that narrative [presented in the video] is constructed is truly a grave violation, not only of rights that were hard-won but indeed perpetuates a logic of blaming women, holding them responsible, and constitutes a moral offense against women,” she stated.
According to the movement’s information, the video began airing on the 25th, “precisely on the day of the Portuguese Cup final, a time when millions of people were watching TV.”
“This audiovisual piece is not merely a provocation. It is a violent attack on the right to Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (IVG), enshrined in Portuguese law after decades of struggle, suffering, and resistance by the country’s women,” the MDM stated in a communiqué.
They added that “under a staged and melodramatic aesthetic, the video emotionally manipulates, distorts medical facts, and casts a sordid moral judgment on women who choose to terminate a pregnancy.”
The activist, part of MDM’s National Secretariat, also noted that thousands of women had contacted the movement since Sunday, through messages and phone calls, regarding the video “expressing great dissatisfaction, even outrage, over what is happening.”
On Monday, the association Escolha, which supports Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (IVG), complained to the Media Regulatory Entity (ERC) about the same video, arguing that its airing as advertisement on TVI constitutes “a breach of Law No. 27/2007 – Television and On-Demand Audiovisual Services Law.”
Escolha further demanded that TVI’s parent company, Media Capital, “immediately cease the advertising agreement with Miguel Milhões (Guru Mike Millions) and remove any mention of the video clip from airing.”
The video “Obrigado, Mãe” is credited to Guru Mike Millions, according to his YouTube account.
Regarding the businessman, who owns a sports nutrition company, MDM stated in the communiqué that “Miguel Milhão is a repeat offender in misogynistic, ultraconservative, and antidemocratic rhetoric,” considering that “his political and business project is deeply hostile to women’s rights, freedom of choice, and human dignity.”
“He uses economic power to try to impose a fundamentalist and obscurantist view on women’s bodies—as if we were property of the State, religion, or employer. We are not,” they added.
