I know FOUR women who had abortions, even though it's illegal in Brazil.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

ALL of them went on to have perfectly healthy, happy children later on in life.

It isn't QUITE "back alley" here -- there are clandestine clinics in faraway places that'll do the procedure for a price a lower-middle-class person can afford.

I had no participation -- well, maybe by having known of what happened and not ratting them out. Also, I went to the trouble of explaining a bit or two about biology to one or two of them -- that a 2-month old embryo has as much soul as a tree has, because of how the brain develops.

I hope I brought some confort to them.

[formerrepuke]

1. Proving that just because it's made illegal- it won't stop happening..

(and, has it always been illegal in Brazil.. Every single state in Brazil?.. surprising)

[Squeech]

2. Exactly

Plus, countries where it's legal see a significantly *lower* rate.

AFAIK nobody really knows why-- although the theory that contraception, and information about contraception, are easier to obtain in countries with a more libertarian sexual standard strikes me as pretty persuasive.

Do you happen to know what Brazil's overall abortion rate is, and how it compares to the USA?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. Hard to measure

It's not like people will answer truthfully to polls.

Kinda like those software and music "piracy" statistics the Intellectual Property Nazis like to throw out. Totally worthless.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. Yes. Criminal law here is federal. Only mundane, ho-hum things are local.

And as far as I know it's always been illegal. Except for rape, fatal defects, or threat to woman's health.

I guess it's less illegal than how the fundies want to make it in the USA.

Anyway, there IS a strong anti-choice movement here. The government wanted to streamline the procedure in cases of fetal anencephaly (NO BRAIN! NO MIND! NO SOUL!) and the fundies went nuts. There were billboards by the roads saying, "President Lula! Don't legalize abortion!"

All for fetuses with NO BRAINS, who die minutes after the (VERY dangerous to the woman) birth.

Fuckers. Bastard fuckers, all of them.

[peacebuzzard]

5. Best thing on Brazilian contraception availability: widely promoted

the Brazilian billboard ads on condom promotion are as provocative as they get.
:hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: In spite of the Vatican papal decrees, thank goodness advertising and legalities rule well on this issue!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. Yes. Yes. That's one thing I can be proud of.

And you can bet it drives the abortion rate down.

Of course, that doesn't stop the churches from spewing their predictable vitriol. But society as a whole accepts it fully. This is a battle they flat-out lost. And we, people of reason, won.

[peacebuzzard]

8. Something happened there, because it seemed like population explosion

was out of control and it has slowed somewhat, haven't seen true facts and figures on this, just articles here and there, nothing I can point directly to. But it does seem like the pop growth is not as radical as it was prior to the widespread advertising campaign on contraception.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

9. Not to mention AIDS prevention and treatment, which earns world praise

Much to the chagrin of Big Pharma. Just recently we strongarmed a manufacturer into lowering their prices or we'd break their patent. They blinked.

My country isn't perfect, but I love it! :loveya:

[ender]

6. in the USSR ...

abortion was illegal, too..

and yet, according to Remnick in "Lenin's Tomb", there were more abortions than live births per year.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. Funny how many of the changes RWers want to make in society

Were the norm in oppressive countries.