With a population of about 200 million citizens, Brazil is known for may things: its diverse population, rich cuisine and beautiful landscapes. What is it not famous for, however, is its state-sponsored healthcare system. In a 2013 poll, 48 percent of respondents said they thought healthcare was Brazil’s biggest problem, ranking the issue well above education, corruption, violence, and unemployment. All flaws considered, Sistema Unico de Saude (Unified Health System) has contributed to increasing life expectancy and lower infant and maternal mortality rates in Brazil since its inception in 1988.
Social reforms aimed at easing the plight of Brazil’s poor have led to improvements that could never have been imagined 100 years ago. While citizens at times wait for hours, days or even months for surgeries and even routine procedures through SUS, while those who can afford private insurance do not have to, it is important to remember that SUS services are virtually free. From cataract surgery to bypass, it is quite amazing that such a vast and diverse nation sets out on a quest to provide health care to every one of its citizens. SUS is , of course, only one of the many improvements that have alleviated income inequalities in Brazil.
In recent years, however, an outspoken elite has been advocating for the fight for equality in healthcare to translate into what they call “reproductive equality”. While SUS already provides eight different types of contraception to the public (including the morning-after pill), these advocates find that not only is this not enough, but argue that abortion must also be included in this healthcare package. It is important to note that while abortion is illegal in Brazil, it is allowed (and covered by SUS) in the cases of rape, grave risk to the mother’s health and anencephalous babies. Unfortunately, illegal abortions still occur, often resulting in severe damage to the mother. Advocates argue that this is dangerous specially for poor women, who must find back-alley abortionists at lower prices, and with increased safety risks. The argument is that by making abortion unrestricted and legal, these women will not die and life will go on. In the words of representative Jean Wyllis , “women must resort to clandestine abortions in butcher houses and die every day as a result of them.”
These elites fail to take into consideration that not only is abortion a life-sentence to the fetus, an ineffective solution to the mother (who will continue to live in poverty and without proper health care) and contrary to the beliefs of most Brazilians (72.7% of Brazilians are against its legalization) .
The recent happenings in Brazil are another chapter in the story of elites attempting to impose their liberal views on the poor, and in this case, the majority. While truth does not depend on a majority vote, as Archbishop Fulton Sheen once stated, it is helpful to remember that in this case the majority in Brazil is speaking loudly in defense of life.
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