'I was terrified I was going to die.' Rape victims in Brazil struggle to access legal abortions
She decided to abort at home with medication she bought on the black market, with only a few friends on site to help.
'I fainted several times because of the pain. I was terrified I was going to die,' she said.
The Associated Press does not identify people without their permission if they say they have been sexually assaulted.
In Brazil, abortion is legally restricted to cases of rape, life-threatening risks to the pregnant woman or if the fetus has no functioning brain. Theoretically, when a pregnancy results from sexual violence, the victim's word should suffice for access to the procedure.
'The law doesn't require judicial authorization or anything like that,' explained Ivanilda Figueiredo, a professor of law at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. 'A woman seeking an abortion recounts the situation to a multi-disciplinary team at the healthcare clinic and, in theory, that should be enough.'
In practice, however, advocates, activists and health experts say women encounter significant barriers to ending a pregnancy even under the limited conditions provided for by the law. This is due to factors including lack of facilities, disparities between clinic protocols and even resistance from medical personnel.
'Healthcare professionals, citing religious or moral convictions, often refuse to provide legal abortions, even when working in clinics authorized to perform them,' said Carla de Castro Gomes, a sociologist who studies abortion and associate researcher at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Women in Brazil also face geographical barriers to legal abortions. Only 290 facilities in a mere 3.6% of municipalities around the country of approximately 213 million people provide the service, according to a 2021 study from scientific journal Reports in Public Health.
In June 2022, four nonprofits filed a legal challenge with the Supreme Court, arguing that restrictions on abortion access violate women's constitutional rights. The case is currently under review.
'Still a taboo'
A 35-year-old cashier from a small city in the interior of Rio de Janeiro state also said she became pregnant as a result of a rape. But, unlike the woman in Brasilia, she chose to pursue an abortion through legal means, fearing the risks that come with a clandestine procedure.
Although Brazil's Health Ministry mandates that, in the case of a pregnancy resulting from rape, healthcare professionals must present women with their rights and support them in their decision, the woman said a hospital committee refused to terminate the pregnancy. They claimed she was too far along, despite Brazilian law not stipulating a time limit for such procedures.
She eventually found help through the Sao Paulo-based Women Alive Project, a nonprofit specializing in helping victims of sexual violence access legal abortions. The organization helped her locate a hospital in another state, an 18-hour drive, willing to carry out the procedure.
Thanks to a fundraising campaign, the woman was able to travel and undergo the operation at 30 weeks of pregnancy in late April.
'We are already victims of violence and are forced to suffer even more,' she said in a phone interview. 'It's a right guaranteed by law, but unfortunately still seen as taboo.'
Legal uncertainty
Brazil's abortion laws are among the most constrictive in Latin America, where several countries — including Mexico, Argentina and Colombia — have enacted sweeping reforms to legalize or broadly decriminalize abortion.
This legislative environment is exacerbated by a political landscape in which far-right politicians, supported by Catholic and Evangelical voters who make up a majority in the country, regularly seek to further restrict the limited provisions within the country's penal code.
In 2020, the government of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro issued an ordinance requiring doctors to report rape victims seeking abortions to the police. Current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva revoked the measure in his first month in office in 2023.
But the measure left lasting effects.
'These changes end up generating a lot of legal uncertainty among health professionals, who fear prosecution for performing legal abortions,' Castro Gomes said.
Last year, conservative lawmaker Sóstenes Cavalcante proposed a bill to equate the termination of a pregnancy after 22 weeks with homicide, sparking widespread protests by feminist groups across Brazil. The protests ultimately led to the proposal being shelved.
But in November, a committee of the Chamber of Deputies approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would effectively outlaw all abortions by determining the 'inviolability of the right to life from conception.' The bill is currently on hold, awaiting the formation of a commission.
Earlier this month, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, a Lula ally, came under fire after sanctioning a bill mandating anti-abortion messages on posters in municipal hospitals and other health establishments.
'Doctors don't tell you'
Advocates say access to abortion highlights significant disparities: women with financial means dodge legal restrictions by traveling abroad for the procedure, while children, poor women and Black women face greater obstacles.
According to the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, 61.6% of the 83,988 rape victims in 2023 were under the age of 14. A statistical analysis that year by investigative outlet The Intercept estimated less than 4% of girls aged 10 to 14 who became pregnant as a result of rape accessed a legal abortion between 2015 and 2020.
In Rio de Janeiro's Mare favela, one of the city's largest low-income communities, the nonprofit Networks of Mare's House of Women provides women with information regarding their reproductive rights, including legal provisions for abortions.
It was there, during a recent workshop, that Karina Braga de Souza, a 41-year-old mother of five, found out abortion is legal in certain cases in Brazil.
'We don't have access (to information). Doctors don't tell you,' she said.
Cross-border connections
Feminist groups in Brazil are campaigning at a federal level for enhanced access to legal abortion services.
Last year, 'A Child Is Not a Mother,' a campaign by feminist groups, successfully advocated for the National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents to adopt a resolution detailing how to handle cases of pregnant child rape victims. The body, jointly made up of government ministries and civil society organizations, approved the resolution by a slim majority in December.
Brazilian activists also are seeking to improve access to abortion by forging links with organizations abroad.
In May, members of feminist groups in Brazil including Neither in Prison, Nor Dead and Criola met with a delegation of mostly Black U.S. state legislators. The meeting, organized by the Washington, D.C.-based Women's Equality Center, aimed to foster collaboration on strategies to defend reproductive rights, especially in light of the U.S. Supreme Court 2022 decision to strip away the constitutional right to abortion.
In the meantime, the consequences for women who struggle to access their rights run deep.
The woman in Brasilia who underwent an abortion at home said she is coping thanks to therapy and the support of other women, but has been traumatized by recent events.
By being denied access to a legal abortion, 'our bodies feel much more pain than they should,' she said. 'Whenever I remember, I feel very angry.'
___
Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Israeli gunfire and strikes kill at least 53 in Gaza as many were seeking food aid
'We went because there is no food ... and nothing was distributed,' he said. Advertisement On Saturday evening, Israeli forces killed at least 11 people and wounded 120 others when they fired toward crowds who tried to get food from an entering U.N. convoy, Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiyah, director of Shifa hospital, told the AP. 'We are expecting the numbers to surge in the next few hours,' he said. There was no immediate Israeli military comment. Elsewhere, those killed in strikes included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, hospital staff and the ambulance service said. Another Israeli strike killed at least eight, including four children, in the crowded tent camp of Muwasi in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to the Nasser hospital. Advertisement Also in Khan Younis, Israeli forces opened fire and killed at least nine people trying to get aid entering Gaza through the Morag corridor, according to the hospital's morgue records. There was no immediate comment from Israel's military. Stalled ceasefire talks Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas were at a standstill after the U.S. and Israel recalled negotiating teams on Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering 'alternative options' to ceasefire talks. A Hamas official, however, said negotiations were expected to resume next week and called the recall of the delegations a pressure tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which mediate alongside the United States, called the pause temporary and said talks would resume. They did not say when. 'Our loved ones do not have time for another round of negotiations, and they will not survive another partial deal,' said Zahiro Shahar Mor, nephew of hostage Avraham Munder, one of 50 still in Gaza from Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war. Mor spoke at a weekly rally in Tel Aviv. Children starving to death The U.N. and experts say Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine. And now children with no preexisting conditions have begun to starve to death. 'We only want enough food to end our hunger,' said Wael Shaaban at a charity kitchen in Gaza City as he tried to feed his family of six. While Israel's army says it's allowing aid into the enclave with no limit on the trucks that can enter, the U.N. says it is hampered by military restrictions on its movements and criminal looting. The Hamas-run police had provided security for aid delivery, but it has been unable to operate after being targeted by airstrikes. Advertisement Israel on Saturday said over 250 trucks carrying aid from the U.N. and other organizations entered Gaza this week. About 600 trucks entered per day during the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March. Saturday's Zikim shootings came days after at least 80 Palestinians were killed trying to reach aid entering through the crossing, one of the deadliest days for aid-seekers in 21 months of war. Israel faces growing international pressure. More than two dozen Western-aligned countries and over 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticizing Israel's blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food, mostly near the new aid sites run by an American contractor, the U.N. human rights office says. The charities and rights groups said their own staff struggled to get enough food. 'Stand for Gaza, for silence is a crime, and indifference is a betrayal of humanity,' said Father Issa Thaljieh, a Greek Orthodox priest at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, as religious figures and the mayor called for prayers to end the war. Turning to airdrops, with a warning For the first time in months, Israel said it is allowing airdrops, requested by neighboring Jordan. A Jordanian official said the airdrops mainly will be food and milk formula. The United Arab Emirates said airdrops would start 'immediately.' Britain plans to work with partners to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said. Advertisement But the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, warned that airdrops are 'expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians' and won't reverse the increasing starvation or prevent aid diversion. More than 59,700 Palestinians have been killed during the war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties. Magdy reported from Cairo.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
This test can predict how long a middle-aged person will live in just a few seconds
When it comes to longevity, it's not just about living for as many years as possible. The goal is to live healthier, and free of disease or injury, for as long as possible. Healthy aging often boils down to simple habits like exercising regularly, eating a nutritious diet rich in fiber, getting enough sleep, and connecting with others. Even if a person practices these habits, is there a way to know how long they'll live? While there's no crystal ball for lifespan, there is a simple test you can take in middle age that may help predict how many years you have left. An exercise researcher reveals why this test can be a good indicator of longevity and a wakeup call to change your lifestyle. Longevity Tip of the Day: The Sitting-to-Rising Test May Predict How Long You'll Live The sitting-to-rising test (SRT) is a measure of how easy or difficult it is to sit on the floor without using the arms, hands or knees for support or balance, and stand back up again without assistance. The SRT assesses a person's non-aerobic physical fitness, which includes muscle strength, balance, flexibility, and a healthy body composition. These are also all indicators of healthy aging, Dr. Claudio Gil Araújo, a sports medicine physician and researcher at the Exercise Medicine Clinic in Rio de Janeiro, told NBC News. New research led by Araújo shows that a person's score on this test may predict how many years they have left to live, according to a report published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. Araújo's team administered the SRT to 4,282 adults aged 46–75, using a 0-5 point system. A perfect score (five points) required going from a sitting to rising position unassisted. Any time a body part was used to balance or get up, one point was subtracted. The researchers followed up 12 years later and found that the vast majority of people with perfect scores were still alive, compared to less than half of those who scored four points or less. The authors concluded that the SRT was a strong predictor of natural and cardiovascular mortality. While the test doesn't directly prove that a perfect score results in a longer lifespan, 'it is quite reasonable to expect this,' Araújo told NBC News. Why It Matters 'Aerobic fitness is important, but muscle strength, a healthy body mass index, balance and flexibility are also vital for healthy aging,' Araújo said. The SRT is not perfect, but it is a reliable indicator of longevity because it assesses these factors. However, the real value of this test may be that it can serve as a warning sign to start changing your habits. Fortunately, the score you get on the test is not final. Instead, it can give a snapshot of your fitness level and what you need to improve upon — especially if you're in your 50s, which is an ideal time to start building healthy aging habits. If your SRT score is low, you can work on these deficits by building strength and balance to score higher, Araújo said. How to Get Started Always consult with your doctor before trying the test at home, especially if you have underlying health issues or injuries. In order to do the sitting-to-rising test, all you need is another person to keep score (you can use a 10-point system). Here's how: Start from a standing position. Slowly sit on the floor crosslegged without using any other body part to balance. Stand up from this position, without any assistance. Subtract one point every time you use your hand, knee, forearm, or side of your leg to help. If are able to sit down and stand back up with no assistance, you score a perfect 10. If you couldn't get off the ground, you score a zero. A good score would be considered eight or higher. TODAY's Expert Tip of the Day series is all about simple strategies to make life a little easier. Every Monday through Friday, different qualified experts share their best advice on diet, fitness, heart health, mental wellness and more. This article was originally published on Solve the daily Crossword


New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Shortage of prescription pain meds like Percocet sparks concern in Canada
This news must have been a hard pill to swallow. There is a nationwide shortage of common prescription pain medications in Canada — and it could last until early August. Opioids that contain acetaminophen with codeine or oxycodone — better known as Percocet and Tylenol No. 3 — are in short supply, according to Health Canada, the department in charge of the country's national health policy, which made the dire announcement last week. Manufacturing disruptions and increased demand are behind the sudden scarcity, Health Canada said. 'We're communicating with health care providers, provincial and territorial governments, and distributors to coordinate the sharing of information about this shortage,' Health Canada said. Canada is facing a shortage of prescription pain medication. AP 'We're also working with manufacturers and stakeholders to monitor the supply of acetaminophen with codeine or oxycodone and looking at options for increasing access to these products.' The Canadian Pharmacists Association is limiting the amounts of pills it dispenses. 'Usually pharmacists have to dispense the amount that is being written on the prescription unless it is being limited by the drug plan,' Sadaf Faisal, senior director of professional affairs at the CPA, told Global News. The Canadian Pharmacists Association is working to combat the issue. Westend61 – 'In a situation like these, pharmacists are documenting on their prescriptions that we are only supplying 30 days right now because we don't have enough supply.'