Brazilian women braced for battle amid simmering fears over abortion

[Judi Lynn]

The abortion debate is nearing a crossroads in a country where stringent laws put women seeking terminations at deadly risk

Jo Griffin in Rio de Janeiro

@jogriffin2
Thu 26 Apr 2018 02.00 ED

For her first abortion, Anna went to a clandestine clinic in the south zone of Rio de Janeiro where a doctor bungled the procedure and left her needing further treatment. Years later, no trace remains of the now-defunct clinic, yet memories of the experience still stir anxiety.

“Even if the service was good, you knew you could go to prison if you were found out,” says Anna, who wanted to be known only by her first name. “And if something went wrong, who could you ask for help? There was no one.”

Amid the febrile political climate of a presidential election year, the abortion debate is simmering in Brazil, where women’s rights campaigners are braced for laws that could further reduce their scant reproductive rights and push even more into unsafe, sometimes life-threatening abortions.

As many as one in five women in Brazil are estimated to have had an abortion, which is currently a crime except after rape, when the woman’s life is at risk, or if the foetus has anencephaly, a congenital brain disorder. Every year, hundreds of thousands of women risk their lives to end pregnancies.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/apr/26/brazil-women-braced-for-battle-simmering-fears-abortion-law