Brazil is considered an economic global superpower, placing it in the same echelon as countries like the United States, whose economy is renowned for driving innovation, progress and setting global standards. But just how powerful can a country be when other types of policies expose its failings toward the everyday lives of its citizens? Laws regarding bodily autonomy, personal freedom and reproductive healthcare say a lot about what a country values, especially given the knowledge that restrictions to reproductive rights predominantly impact people on the margins. And those of us in the United States are well acquainted with this, since the fall of Roe v Wade in 2022.
Unlike other large countries in Latin America such as Argentina, Colombia and Mexico which have taken great leaps to liberate abortion care in recent years, Brazil still has extreme restrictions. Currently, abortion is only allowed in 3 exceptions (for rape or incest; for the life or health of the pregnant person; and if the fetus is non-viable), and both pregnant people and doctors can be criminalized if they don’t fit into the exceptions. Similar to what we are now seeing in the United States with no federal abortion protections, there are a number of women in Brazil who sadly end up dying because they cannot access safe and timely abortion care.
For many women in Brazil, it is the choice between being forced to remain pregnant when they do not want to be, potentially facing death or prison, or having the means to travel to a neighboring country to get abortion care. Although there is a current Supreme Court case that could potentially liberalize Brazil’s abortion laws, it has been held up in recent years, and in the meantime people need to access care.
In episode 6 of the new audio and video series Green Tide Rising, which spotlights Latin America’s Green Wave movement and how it’s shaping some of the most progressive abortion policies in the world, hosts Asha Dahya and Monica Morales-Garcia feature voices of storytellers and activists from Brazil, who are working to create change.
Brazil is the home of Misoprostol, one of the drugs used in combination with Mifepristone, commonly known as medication abortion. So despite the current landscape, it is clear that women and pregnant people have found a way to take care of their own health. This innovation may not be considered a “superpower” in the economic sense, but it is this type of activism and movement building that becomes the backbone for advocating for the most marginalized in a country, where government institutions and medical systems fail.
Listen to Rebeca Mendes, a mother of two, an abortion storyteller, founder of abortion advocacy organization Projeto Vivas, and the first Latin American woman to apply to a Supreme Court for the right to have a legal abortion share her story about having to cross the border into Colombia to get the care she needed. In the episode, we also hear from activists and leaders at Anis, a feminist organization working toward reproductive justice and advocating for the law to change in Brazil.
You can download and subscribe to listen Episode 6 and every episode of Green Tide Rising wherever you get your podcasts, and be sure to check out the accompanying video series ENTONCES on Youtube. Follow Green Tide Rising on social media, and share the series with your community!
