And also very good, sensible news: Brazil is going to subsidise birth control pills for the poor.
Dulce Xavier, a Catholic who runs a group advocating for women’s reproductive rights, says Brazilians simply aren’t listening to the Vatican.
“There is total disobedience to church doctrine on sexual reproduction,” she says. “The majority of Catholics here use condoms, take the pill and support limited access to abortion.”
According to the government’s own estimates as many as one million women a year are having abortions in Brazil, even though they’re illegal, except for cases of rape or where a mother’s life is in danger.
About 4,000 women die from the procedures annually, making it the fourth-leading cause of maternal death in Brazil after hypertension, hemorrhages and infection.
Why particularly the Pope? Well he was there two weeks ago running all the usual “I want to control women’s bodies” stuff.
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