Abortion Politics in Brazil: You decide.
Católicas Pelo Direito de Decidir (Catholics for Choice), a Brazil-based organization fighting for the right to legal, safe and free abortion recently made this video. In it, we see two women discussing what to do about their neighbor who just tried to perform an abortion on herself. One woman wants to call the police to report what is considered a crime in Brazil, the other wants to call an ambulance to save their friend’s life. You as the viewer, get to choose the ending of the video. Police or ambulance?
I love how the video forces the viewer to confront what they truly believe about the legal state of abortion in Brazil. In my experience there, many people support abortion being illegal, yet don’t believe that women should be imprisoned for it. However, opinions like this don’t recognize the threat to women’s lives that occur when the only recourse they have are unsafe, illegal abortions. This video raises the question: if criminalizing abortion means women perform it on themselves, are you still anti-choice?
