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March 17, 2008
Brazilian woman

On Wednesday, March 12, Ipas Brazil and the National Feminist Network for Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Health launched a new campaign calling for a review of the law against abortion. The campaign opens with a public-service announcement, created by the Santa Clara media agency, titled, “Does criminalizing abortion solve the problem? Think about it.”

In Brazil, abortion is considered a crime, except under two circumstances: if a woman’s life is at risk or if she has been raped. Yet obtaining the authorization for a legal abortion is often difficult, even for women who meet these requirements. Brazil’s penal code states that a woman who seeks or performs an abortion can be imprisoned for up to three years.

In the 34-second PSA, which is available online at YouTube, passers-by on a busy city street are asked three questions about abortion: whether they are for or against abortion; if they know someone who has had an abortion; and finally if they think women who have had abortion should be imprisoned.

“With this video we seek to stimulate debate about the fairness of the Brazilian abortion law,” says Leila Adesse, country director of Ipas Brazil. “At Ipas, we do not believe that this is an issue that should be dealt with in criminal code. This is an issue best addressed by a woman and her doctor.”

In spite of Brazil’s law, it is estimated that there are more than one million illegal and unsafe abortions in Brazil every year. Data from the Brazilian public health system show that approximately 250,000 women have to be hospitalized for abortion-related complications each year. The poorest and most disadvantaged women of Brazil are the least likely to be able to obtain a safe abortion services, and they are the most likely to suffer complications from unsafe procedures.

“Criminalizing abortion doesn’t prevent it from occuring,” says Addesse. “It just makes it more dangerous.”

Despite the deaths and injuries from unsafe abortion, the subject remains taboo in public discussion in Brazil. Some progressive women’s rights groups, health professionals and members of government have attempted to promote debate about abortion and to revise Brazil’s penal code, but conservative elements of Brazil’s government have consistently blocked these efforts. The Ipas commercial illustrates that people have complex feelings about how the government should deal with abortion, especially regarding whether or not it should be a criminal act.

Research released last fall shows that global declines in abortions have been the strongest in countries with liberal abortion laws. In South Africa and Romania, deaths from unsafe abortion fell dramatically after abortion was legalized in those countries. In countries where abortion is severely restricted, unsafe abortion remains a major cause of death and injury for women.

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258