Times Tuesday: What Brazil Can Teach The U.S. About Abortion
Or, why abortion access is a moral necessity
For far too long, the anti-abortion movement has claimed the moral high ground, arguing that they are protecting life. As shown through this powerful video created and narrated by Brazilian filmmaker Eliza Capai, abortion isn’t just about healthcare and protecting women, it is a moral imperative.
Brazil is on the verge of changing its abortion policy. As shown in the film, the country’s restrictions rendered legal abortion nearly impossible — even for women like Capai, who was told at 14 weeks that her fetus would not survive outside of the womb.
Capai documents her own abortion story, while exposing the inequalities of abortion access and drawing connections to the United States’ own shortcomings regarding abortion access.
Countries like Brazil, where reproductive policy is linked to religious ideology, have long served as a warning sign for the dangers of limiting abortion access. With Roe overturned and many states effectively banning abortion, the similarities between the U.S. and Brazil are growing.
However, unlike the U.S., it seems Brazil may be headed toward a more progressive stance on abortion, and hopefully saving millions of women in the process.
Watch the video and read the full opinion piece here.