Women and their reproductive rights – 01/26/2024 – Balance and Health

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Two years ago, I wrote in Sheet about health plans that were requiring the signature of husbands to authorize the insertion of IUDs in married women. The practice, which is illegal, was supported by the Family Planning Law, which, at the time, established that tubal ligation or vasectomy could only be performed with “the express consent of both spouses”, on capable and older men and women. 25 years old or with at least two living children.

Today, partner approval is no longer necessary and the minimum age is 21 years old.

After the publication of the report, two plans withdrew their demands, while the third denied that there was a requirement. One of them even made an agreement with the São Paulo Public Defender’s Office and paid compensation.

Now, the topic of women’s reproductive rights and the IUD returns to the center of the debate with the news that Hospital São Camilo, in São Paulo, states that it does not perform contraceptive procedures on both men and women for religious reasons. The institution is Catholic confessional.

The case came to light after communicator Leonor Macedo, 41, was informed during a consultation at the institution that the IUD insertion procedure could not be carried out there due to the religious values ​​of the place.

In her report on the social network X (formerly Twitter), Leonor states that she was “in shock”.

In a note, the hospital indicates that “such procedures are carried out in cases that involve risks to the maintenance of life”.

I spoke to Débora Diniz, law professor at UnB (University of Brasília) and researcher in the area of ​​reproductive rights, to collaborate on a report on the subject. The professor stated that a hospital that operates within a constitutional framework in which family planning is understood as a guarantee of the right to health could not refuse to carry out this type of procedure.

“The fact that the hospital does not do it for men and women does not alter in any way the violation of the right to health, the violation of access to health services”, he states.

Débora highlights that, “in a country that criminalizes abortion”, Hospital São Camilo’s decisions “evidence the sequence of barriers that women face to prevent an unplanned pregnancy.

On the other hand, lawyer Mérces da Silva Nunes, a specialist in medical law, who was interviewed by reporter Leonardo Zvarick for the same report, argues that the denial does not offend the principles of bioethics.

“If there is no risk to the patient’s health, the private hospital may refuse to perform the procedure due to religious precepts.”

To read in Folha

Reproductive rights are also at the center of the US election debate. In Washington, correspondent Fernanda Perrin followed the “March for Life” that took place on Friday (19). She reports in a report how abortion has become a bet for Democrat Joe Biden, while Republican Donald Trump avoids the issue.

In this text, reporter Anna Virginia Ballousier asks: “Is it possible to have an honest debate about abortion?” Based on an experience at the Opus Dei faculty in Rome, she talks about how conversations on the subject suffer from listening.

Changing the subject… Indigenous writer Geni Núñez gave an interview to reporter Suzana Petropouleas to discuss how indigenous thought and the debate about monogamy intersect.

I also want to recommend

In the wave of Oscar nominees, if you haven’t seen “Oppenheimer” yet, your time has come. The film won 13 nominations, including best film, best direction for Christopher Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy and best supporting actress for Emily Blunt.