On State Control of Your Body
And how it goes beyond the fetus they’re trying to “protect”
History moves faster than we think, but at the same time, history has always been here. I’ve been watching the desperation of US feminists at the wake of the cancellation of their abortion rights from Brazil, a country where abortion has been illegal for all of my life. The rich women pay for abortions, the poor ones die trying — this is a saying that is common in pro-choice protests in Brazil and in other countries in South America where abortion isn’t legal. I want to extend my solidarity to US feminists, and reiterate that this is a global fight for our bodily autonomy.
A week before Roe v. Wade was struck down, I was following a story about the denial of abortion rights in Brazil, published by The Intercept. In Brazil, one of the few legal ways to get an abortion is in cases of rape or incest. The mother of an 11-year-old rape victim realized her child was pregnant and sought to terminate the pregnancy, which is allowed by law without judicial permission up until 20 weeks. They were denied the procedure because the girl was 22 weeks and two days along. While the girl’s mother attempted to get permission for the procedure, the girl was taken from her home, allegedly to protect her from her abuser.
