Uses and meanings of Cytotec: Perception on the uses of the "medicine" in a popular neighbor of Florianópolis. (original) (raw)
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Women's hidden transcripts about abortion in Brazil
Social Science & Medicine, 1997
Two folk medical conditions, "delayed" (atrasada) and "suspended" (su~pendida) menstruation, are described as perceived by poor Brazilian women in Northeast Brazil. Culturally prescribed methods to "regulate" these conditions and provoke menstrual bleeding are also described, including ingesting herbal remedies, patent drugs, and modern pharmaceuticals. The ingestion of such self-administered remedies is facilitated by the cognitive ambiguity, euphemisms, folklore, etc., which surround conception and gestation. The authors argue that the ethnomedical conditions of "'delayed" and "suspended" menstruation and subsequent menstrual regulation are part of the "hidden reproductive transcript" of poor and powerless Brazilian women. Through popular culture, they voice their collective dissent to the official, public opinion about the illegality and immorality of induced abortion and the chronic lack of family planning services in Northeast Brazil. While many health professionals consider women's explanations of menstrual regulation as a "'cover-up" for self-induced abortions, such popular justifications may represent either an unconscious or artful manipulation of hegemonic, anti-abortion ideology expressed in prudent, unobtrusive and veiled ways. The development of safer abortion alternatives should consider women's hidden reproductive transcripts. 5 (~ 1997
Misoprostol: The experience of women in Fortaleza, Brazil
Contraception, 1994
Brazil in case of unwanted pregnancy to attempt abortion. This paper reports the characteristics, pattern of misoprostol use and opinions of a group of 102 women (median age 25 years, range 16-49 years), from Fortaleza, capital of Ceard state, who had used misoprostol to attempt abortion. Seventy-five percent were women of lower social class, 58% had less than 8 years of education and 46% were never married. Misoprostol was used for the first induced abortion by 65 women. Modal dose was 4 tablets-200pg of misoprostol each-most frequently 2 tablets by oral route and 2 tablets by intravaginal route. This pattern of use was associated with the highest rate of abortion, mainly at 9-12 weeks of amenorrhea. Fifty-five percent of women had no pregnancy test; 41% had 8 weeks or less of amenorrhea. Curettage was performed in 49 of 84 women who reported abortion and in 41 of 43 women who entered the hospital. Infection and uterine perforation were the complications described. Seventy-two percent of women were in Contraception 1994:49, February 101 Misoprostol in Fortaleza: Lutkscia et al. favor of legalization of abortion, but 52% were also in favor of the prohibition of misoprostol sales; 66% would not repeat misopros-to1 use and 53% would not suggest it to a friend. The poorest women were less favorable to misoprostol ban. Despite the current lack of safer alternatives, misoprostol does not seem a satisfactory solution to illegal abortion in Brazil.
4 instructor at the Morphology Department and Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences at the Federal University of rio grande do norte (UFrn) in natal, rn, Brazil. 5 instructor at the Psychology Department, Human Sciences, literature and arts center at the Federal University of rio grande do norte (UFrn) in natal, rn, Brazil. 6 Master of Psychology, teaching Psychologist, Human Sciences, literature and arts center at the Federal University of rio grande do norte (UFrn) in natal, rn, Brazil. Objective: to analyze women's perception in relation to their partner's reaction and behavior during the abortion process in two Brazilian capitals, associating the variables from women who suffered a spontaneous abortion with those from women who induced it. Methods: semi-structured, questionnaire-based interviews were conducted with 285 women who underwent spontaneous abortion and 31 who reported having induced it. The data were analyzed using the thematic analysis technique, and, subsequently, by the IBM SPSS Statistics Standard Edition software program. The significance level was set at p < 0.05. Results: in both capitals, the women who induced an abortion referred to the partner as the person who could not find out about the abortion (p<0.01 in Natal; p = 0.02 in São Paulo-SP) and, simultaneously, as the one who could have avoided it (p < 0.01 in Natal; p = 0.03 in São Paulo). In Natal-RN, induced abortion was associated with the partner's absence at the time pregnancy was confirmed (p = 0.02) and, in Sao Paulo-SP, with their negative reaction to news of the pregnancy (p = 0.04) and lack of participation in the abortion process (p < 0.01). Conclusion: despite having achieved independence, women still regard male participation in the abortion process as an important factor. The specifics of each capital denote the influence of the geographic and cultural dimension, indicating the need to take into account the particulars of each region in Brazil while considering a holistic approach to women's health.
The biomedicalisation of illegal abortion: the double life of misoprostol in Brazil
História, Ciências, Saúde-Manguinhos, 2016
This paper examines the double life of misoprostol in Brazil, where it is illegally used by women as an abortifacient and legally used in obstetric hospital wards. Based on my doctoral and post-doctoral anthropological research on contraception and abortion in Salvador, Bahia, this paper initially traces the “conversion” of misoprostol from a drug to treat ulcers to a self-administered abortifacient in Latin America, and its later conversion to aneclectic global obstetric tool. It then shows how, while reducing maternal mortality, its use as an illegal abortifacient has reinforced the double reproductive citizenship regime existing in countries with restrictive abortion laws and poor post-abortion care services, where poor women using it illegally are stigmatised, discriminated against and exposed to potentially severe health risks.
This publication aims to offer an overview of the reality of unsafe abortion in Brazil, based on data collected through research on the magnitude of unsafe abortion and the impact of its illegality on women's health and on the quality of reproductive health care in five Brazilian states: Pernambuco, Bahia, and Paraíba, in the Northeastern region; Mato Grosso do Sul, in the Central-Western region; and Rio de Janeiro in the Southeastern region. The methodology used a combination of quantitative and qualitative data. Overall, the abortion care situation is similar in the various states researched, where there is predominantly inhumane treatment that discriminates against, stigmatizes, and punishes the women who undergo abortion. Data from Bahia and Mato Grosso do Sul, states with a high percentage of black and indigenous women, respectively, enriched our work, showing how race/ethnicity and social class associate the issue of clandestine abortion with the vulnerability of social groups, making it also a social justice problem. 6 Misoprostol, known as Cytotec®, is reported by the PNA authors as the most commonly used medication for termination of pregnancy. 7 See ANVISA's Decree No. 344/98.
This thesis is dedicated to My doctor friends and colleagues My children, Nina Wara and Amaru My teenage self Changing Voices Acknowledgements ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis owes its being first and foremost to the guidance of my supervisor, Barbara Bradby. Barbara took the initiative of proposing that I apply to Trinity College Dublin, and she has given me constant support and encouragement over the years, in virtual and real exchanges and collaborative work. Finlay inspired me with their teaching and gave me valuable orientation over the years. I received much collaboration from Aileen O'Carroll, Ewen Speed, and other postgraduate fellow-students. Maria Lohan and Catherine Conlon commented on chapter drafts and shared insights from their work. The Lecky Library staff willingly and efficiently facilitated access to a wealth of publications. A migratory mode of study thrives on homes from home, and I received generous hospitality in Dublin from Catherine Osborn, Carol McKeogh, Maria Lohan, and Catherine Naji whose friendly support sustained me through the final months. My grandparents Dolf and Bev Placzek in New York, Hattie Lupton in Bristol, and Kate Durrant and Kirstan Hawkins in London, welcomed and nurtured me and my children on stop-over visits between La Paz and Dublin. The institutional framework for my fieldwork was provided by the Bolivian Ministry of Health and Ipas, partners in successive projects to improve access and quality of postabortion care services. Dra. Virginia Camacho and Dra. Carmen Cornejo, as coordinators of the governmental Women's Health Programme, gave vital support and advice.
A REVIEW OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ABORTION ACCORDING TO THE BRAZILIAN LEGAL ORDER (Atena Editora)
A REVIEW OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ABORTION ACCORDING TO THE BRAZILIAN LEGAL ORDER (Atena Editora), 2024
This work consists of presenting the results of research into the criminalization of abortion in the Brazilian legal system and its compatibility with the national constitutional project. The research was carried out based on the dialectical-dialogical methodology. where the position of national and supranational courts on the issue of abortion and its possibility is presented, aligning it with statistics made available by the World Health Organization. Finally, it is concluded that the criminalization of abortion in the Brazilian legal system does not violate the basis of the dignity of the human person inserted in the Brazilian constitutional project, but a new interpretation is necessary, so that free abortion is admitted, as long as it is consented by the pregnant woman, before the 20th week of pregnancy and, subsequently, in specific cases, authorized by the legislator.