When abortion pills were banned in Brazil, women turned to drug traffickers
July 2, 2022 at 11:00 am
By Stephanie Nolen
The New York Times
RIO DE JANEIRO — Last November, Xaiana, a 23-year-old college student in northern Brazil, began exchanging text messages with a drug dealer in the south of the country. Following the dealer’s instructions, she transferred 1,500 reais ($285), her living expenses for several months. Then, she waited three agonizing weeks for the arrival in the mail of a blister pack of eight unmarked white pills.
When she took them, they had the effect she was hoping for: She underwent a medication abortion at home with her boyfriend, ending an eight-week pregnancy.
But Xaiana kept bleeding for weeks, an unusual but not rare complication. “It was like a murder scene every time I had a shower,” she said. She was afraid to get help because it is illegal for a woman in Brazil to use the drug, misoprostol, to trigger an abortion. If she went to a clinic, she feared, the staff might figure out she had induced the abortion and report her. The penalty for having an abortion in Brazil is up to three years in jail.
“It’s the loneliest feeling I’ve ever felt in my life,” she said, asking to be identified only by her first name out of fear of prosecution.
More:
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/when-abortion-pills-were-banned-in-brazil-women-turned-to-drug-traffickers/