Pregnancy Termination in Brazil
Sao Paulo, July 18 (EFE). – By Laura Rodriguez
Bureaucracy, lack of hospitals, and misinformation are the main obstacles that women in Brazil face in obtaining a termination of pregnancy, which is legal only in cases of rape, risk of death for the mother or anencephaly.
Accessing an abortion seems impossible in a country where evangelical movements are increasingly influential; this is the case for Benita (not her real name), she was raped five months ago and got pregnant, but the hospital in her city has refused to perform the abortion, the 26-year-old woman told EFE.
Only 1.8% of municipalities in Brazil offer the procedure, and only three hospitals do it after 22 weeks of pregnancy, forcing women to travel long distances and pay high transportation costs.
As described to EFE by feminist organizations, even in this handful of hospitals, some doctors refuse to perform an abortion, either for moral reasons or for fear of being persecuted.
Recent weeks have seen a renewed legal debate over abortion after lawmakers agreed to fast-track the parliamentary debate on a bill that would make abortion after 22 weeks equivalent to murder, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The initiative, which provoked a broad social outcry and opposition from the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, would impose a sentence twice as long as that for rapists on women who seek abortions.
Faced with the uproar, the congressional leadership postponed the bill for the second semester of the year.
Revictimizing experience
Benita is one of the many examples of women who go through hell to obtain a legal abortion in Brazil.
She claims to have been raped and is now five months pregnant. The hospital in her city, Altamira, in the middle of the Amazon, refused to perform the abortion without a legal complaint, a requirement not provided for in the law.
“When I went to the Police Service for Violence against Women, they told me that my case was bizarre and that they did not believe me. I left the police station feeling that I was in the wrong,” she says.
Faced with countless obstacles, women like Benita end up resorting to clandestine abortions using drugs with no guarantees, putting their lives at risk.
“I searched on the Internet and bought a tea. When I drank it, I thought I was going to die; I spent a whole month vomiting and bleeding. I thought I had an abortion, but the pregnancy test remained positive,” she says.
Judicialization of abortion
Benita then contacted the association Milhas pela Vida, which helped her go to court. However, her right to an abortion was denied in the first instance because “her rape had not been proven.” Juliana Reis, director of the NGO, said they would appeal.
Rebeca Mendes, lawyer and director of the Vivas Project, which assists women who need access to abortion, says that the courts “should not be a place to debate this issue.”
“We have seen absurd cases in which the judge and the prosecutor work together to deny girls this right. When you have been raped, having to face the justice system is nothing more than another form of violence,” she condemned.
The Ministry of Health told EFE that “the absence of an updated guide” on access to legal abortion “is an obstacle that makes services more precarious and hinders safe” care. However, it did not mention any measures to solve the problem.
President Lula has personally positioned himself against abortion, and his government is committed to leaving the legislation as it is.
Young women and girls
This series of difficulties also occurs in a country where sexual violence against children is a scourge.
In 2023, more than 12,000 girls between the ages of 8 and 14 were mothers in Brazil. Only 140 others were able to have an abortion, according to official data.
Mendes points out that when it comes to girls, “they usually discover the pregnancy very late when their bellies start to grow.
In addition, she describes that in many cases, health professionals provide them with “deliberate misinformation” and send them to prenatal care instead of abortion services.
Organizations such as Vivas or Milhas pela Vida help finance travel to the three states in the country where abortions are performed after 22 weeks. EFE
