In Brazil, to have a legal
abortion in the case of rape, the woman's statement that rape has occurred is
considered sufficient to guarantee the right to abortion. The aim of this study
was to understand the practice and opinions about providing abortion in the
case of rape among obstetricians-gynecologists (OBGYNs) in Brazil.
A mixed-method
study was conducted from April to July 2012 with 1,690 OBGYNs who responded to
a structured, electronic, self-completed questionnaire. In the quantitative
phase, 81.6% of the physicians required police reports or judicial
authorization to guarantee the care requested. In-depth telephone interviews
with 50 of these physicians showed that they frequently tested women's rape
claim by making them repeat their story to several health professionals; 43.5%
of these claimed conscientious objection when they were uncertain whether the
woman was telling the truth. The moral environment of illegal abortion alters
the purpose of listening to a patient - from providing care to passing
judgement on her. The data suggest that women's access to legal abortion is being
blocked by these barriers in spite of the law. We recommend that FEBRASGO and
the Ministry of Health work together to clarify to physicians that a woman's
statement that rape occurred should allow her to access a legal abortion...
Creating barriers to
abortion in the case of rape
Only 13.7% of the physicians trusted the woman’s narrative about
the rape on its own in order to guarantee her right to abortion. Almost half
(44.1%) requested at least one document not required by law in order to agree
to the abortion, such as a police report (18.7%), judicial authorization
(9.5%), expert external medical opinion (9.3%), or even authorization by the
institutional ethics committee (6.6%). For 37% of the physicians, the woman had
to obtain and present two or more such documents to obtain the abortion...
Full article
at:
- 1Professor, Graduate Program in Social Policy, University of Brasilia (UnB)/Anis, Institute of Bioethics, Human Rights, and Gender, Brasilia, Brazil. Electronic address: anis@anis.org.br.
- 2Professor, Research Center and Extension Program in Women's Health, Piauí State University (Uespi), Teresina, Brazil/Anis, Institute of Bioethics, Human Rights, and Gender, Brasilia, Brazil.
- 3Physician, Sexual Violence Commission, Brazilian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (FEBRASGO), São Paulo, Brazil.
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