In this clip, the New York Times explores the experiences of pregnant women in Brazil during the ongoing Zika outbreak, which "has been blamed for thousands of neurological birth defects across the country."
NYTdocumentary sheds light abortion in Brazil amid the Zika outbreak"/>
The Times documentary shares a conversation between a doctor and a pregnant woman whose fetus has several birth defects. "Over the last few months, [the doctor] has seen several cases where Zika was suspected of causing dangerous complications," a narrator explains. The narrator continues, "But there's not much she or her colleagues can offer patients beyond comforting words. Abortion, in almost all cases, is out of the question. It's illegal in Brazil, except when the [woman's] life is at risk, if she was raped or if the fetus is brain dead."
The documentary explains that even though "[w]omen found guilty of abortion face up to three years in jail," the abortion ban "hasn't stopped women from getting [abortion care], even before the Zika outbreak." According to the clip, Brazilian health officials have recommended women delay pregnancy, but many women in the country have limited access to sexuality education and contraception, forcing them to take "desperate measures" to avoid pregnancy. The clip spotlights the experience of one woman living in a low-income neighborhood in the country who has had four abortions without medical oversight. The woman comments, "It is hard for a woman not to get pregnant. But nowadays with that disease, a woman has to try hard not to get pregnant."
The documentary notes that while "[a] movement is underway to loosen Brazil's antiabortion laws and create a legal exception for microcephaly," abortion-rights opponents simultaneously have sought to make "laws more punitive for abortions related to microcephaly" (McDonald, New York Times, 5/18).
