Beyond Borders: What Brazil's Reproductive Justice Crisis Reveals About Global Resistance
A FEMINIST investigation into reproductive healthcare, white supremacy, and grassroots organizing across the Americas
By Ky Polanco | FEMINIST
Rio de Janeiro's favelas rise up the mountainsides, home to millions of Brazilians navigating a complex landscape of reproductive healthcare access. FEMINIST came here to learn how grassroots organizers are fighting for reproductive justice in communities where formal healthcare often falls short. 📸 by Ky Polanco
The statistics are impossible to forget: In Brazil, 49% of all mothers in the favelas have their first child before age 19. Every 48 hours, a woman dies from unsafe abortion procedures. When I joined a delegation of US lawmakers traveling to Brazil this summer to investigate the state of reproductive rights, I expected to document a crisis. What I discovered was both more devastating and more inspiring than I anticipated—a healthcare system that mirrors our own struggles while offering a blueprint for resistance that transcends borders.
Standing in the halls of Brazil's National Congress in Brasília, holding a green pañuelo that has become the symbol of reproductive rights across Latin America and the world, the weight of our investigation became clear. This wasn't just about documenting another country's struggles with reproductive healthcare. This was about understanding how systems of oppression operate globally—and how resistance movements can learn from each other to build something stronger.
FEMINIST's co-founder Ky Polanco joined the delegation to uncover what a country that only granted full rights to women and Black citizens in 1988 could teach us about reproductive justice. As an act of global solidarity, she held the green pañuelo in Brazil's Congress to demonstrate that our access to bodily autonomy deserves space in the most prestigious halls of power. 📸 by Kisha Bari
The Legacy That Shapes Everything
Brazil's reproductive justice crisis didn't emerge in a vacuum. At the Pretos Novos memorial site in Rio de Janeiro, an archivist explained the historical context that continues to shape reproductive outcomes today. Black Brazilians weren't granted full citizenship rights until 1988—just 37 years ago. Today, 67% of homicide victims in Brazil are Black women, with a 118% increase in femicide cases for Black women since 2018¹.
“Brazil had a whitening project to end the Black population through miscegenation that was done, unfortunately, through the rape of Black women. So, having a Black son or daughter is an act of resistance. Because according to the State’s project, the Black population would only be history by 2011. We are in 2025. And look at me. I am a Black woman. This means that this resistance project of Black women won.”
Archivist at Pretos Novos memorial site educates the US Legislatures on personal stories from women in the favelas, how racial justice and reproductive justice are intertwined throughout the nations history of slavery.
US Representative Analis Ortiz made the connection explicit:
"White supremacy makes our communities less safe simply because of the color of our skin—and that is a reproductive justice issue."
Senator Ortiz said in the press conference that the rights and health of Black women in the US and Brazil are linked. Racism and inequality cause the problems Black mothers face in both countries. 📸 by Kisha Bari
When Law Meets Reality: The Access Crisis
Brazil permits abortion in three circumstances: rape/incest, life-threatening pregnancies, or fatal fetal defects. But only 290 facilities across 3.6% of municipalities in a country of 213 million people provide these services². At Brazil's National Hospital in Brasília, exhausted doctors told us:
"From this unit I hope that we have more and more safety to work, to do what we have been doing—expanding access for pregnant victims of sexual violence."
FEMINIST interviewed Dr. Andréia Regina Aráujo at Hospital Materno Infantil to hear how the care system works with survivors of sexual violence and the gender expansive population of Brazil.
The doctors expressed hope that:
"Brazil stops being a place that stigmatizes these women so much, that criminalizes these women and the professionals so much."
The list of services of care provided by SUS.
67% of homicide victims in Brazil are Black women
Only 290 facilities in 3.6% of municipalities provide abortion services
A rape occurs every 6 minutes in Brazil
As a portrait of the congresswoman hung in the foreground, we met with Congresswoman Célia Xakriabá via zoom to discuss the intersection of climate and reproductive justice. She joined from the state of Minas Gerais where she represents the indigenous Xakriabá people. 📸 by Ky Polanco
Environmental Racism and Reproductive Health: From Ancient Plants to Modern Medicine
Congresswoman Célia Xakriabá, Brazil's first indigenous federal representative, revealed shocking connections between environmental policy and reproductive outcomes. But first, the deeper story: Brazil is credited as the birthplace of "self-managed abortion." In the late 1980s, Brazilian women—particularly women of color in favelas—discovered that misoprostol could safely terminate pregnancies³.
This wasn't isolated from traditional knowledge. For generations, Brazilian women had used plants like Arruda for reproductive healthcare. When they couldn't access private care, they turned to both traditional plants and creative pharmaceutical solutions.
Women’s Equality Center Executive Director Paula Avilla-Guillen highlights the panuelo as a global symbol of reproductive rights solidarity.
The green pañuelos we carried connect plant-based healthcare traditions to the modern fight for reproductive freedom. As symbols of La Marea Verde (The Green Tide), they represent life and the unwavering demand for bodily autonomy.
Congresswoman Célia Xakriabá 📸 by Kisha Bari
“There’s no climate justice without women.”
Today, environmental contamination threatens this connection. During our meeting, Congresswoman Célia Xakriabá detailed how pesticide contamination in agricultural regions leads to significantly higher pregnancy risks. In agribusiness regions, congenital anomaly risks are 20% higher, fetal death risks 30% higher, and in some areas, the risk of dying before birth jumps 73% higher⁴. As she explained to the delegation, women seek abortions "not because they chose. It's because of the pesticide rates" Xakriabá explained.
Journalist Nathália Cariatti from feminist media company AzMina has spent years uncovering how far-right groups and some US-backed media spread false information to make people doubt facts about abortion in Brazil. Photo by Kisha Bari
The Information War and Underground Reality
AzMina journalist Nathália Cariatti explained how mainstream Brazilian media systematically undermines reproductive rights by giving "more credibility to conservative leaders than to patients and healthcare providers."
Her organization counters by treating abortion as healthcare:
"We do a lot of stories thinking about how we can inform people who are looking for abortion, understanding that these people [are often] desperate."
Many Brazilians obtain misoprostol from drug traffickers when legal care isn't accessible. A government official laid out the consequences:
"The criminalization of abortion does not reduce abortion—criminalization produces death. Every year, women die from having clandestine abortions, and above all, those who die are Black, are poor, are from the periphery."
Community Organizing as Survival Strategy
At Criola, a Rio-based organization working under a reproductive justice framework since 1992, founder Lucia Maria Xavier de Castro explained their approach to supporting Black women facing reproductive health challenges. The organization focuses on providing compassionate information and community connection, helping women understand that their struggles are part of larger systemic issues rather than personal failings.
When asked what message she wanted to send to Black women in America, Castro's response was powerful:
"That as sisters—sisters in struggle, sisters of dreams, sisters of life—that they believe in this."
Lessons from Brazil's Universal Healthcare
Brazil's SUS provides free contraception, maternal care, and legal abortion coverage—a stark contrast to the US. State Senator London Lamar from Tennessee, who participated in the delegation, wrote about these differences in her opinion piece for The Tennessean, noting that while both countries restrict abortion, Brazil provides exceptions for rape, incest, and fetal anomalies that Tennessee does not offer.
The economic dimensions are devastating:
"In America, you're paying $20,000-$30,000 in a hospital bill just to have a baby. And in Tennessee, you're forced to do it. So you're forcing people into debt." - U.S. State Senator London Lamar
Speaking with FEMINIST, Tennessee State Senator London Lamar highlighted Brazil's comprehensive healthcare approach as a model for US states. She noted that Brazil provides healthcare support "on the front end and back end" of reproductive care, telling FEMINIST: "If you are going to take away my right to abortion, at least give me good public healthcare, good access to contraception and at least make it so that me and my baby can make it through the whole pregnancy process." 📸 Photo by Kisha Bari
Building Global Solidarity
Women's Equality Center Executive Director Paula Avila-Guillen framed the urgent need for collaboration:
"The reality we face in the US is not that different from the reality we face in Brazil. What can we do differently? What does solidarity mean in this moment?"
Senator Lamar's meeting with Brazilian Minister Anielle Franco highlighted the power of Black women's political solidarity:
"We truly just understood the plight of the Black woman in the political space, especially when you champion things like anti-racism and resistance against our oppression."
Anielle Franco is the sister of Marielle Franco, the Black feminist councilwoman and human rights activist who was assassinated in Rio de Janeiro in 2018. Now serving as Brazil's Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle carries forward her sister's legacy fighting for Black women's rights and social justice. 📸 by Kisha Bari
US Representative Priscilla Souza addressed tactical similarities:
"Unfortunately there is a political playbook, and religion and faith has been weaponized in this playbook. But you know what? If they can work together to do things that are not so great, we can work together too."
U.S. Representative Sousa represents the largest Brazilian-American community in the US. She highlighted in the delegate press conference how reproductive care problems are linked in both countries through an oppressive version of Christian nationalism. 📸 Photo by Kisha Bari
“We are making history each and every day. The fight against racism, the fight for liberation is not just limited to the United States. It extends to everyone who’s ever felt like they didn’t have a fair chance to create a better life for themselves—and that crosses international waters.”
U.S. Legislatures posed for a group photo in the Brasilia Congress with Brazilian representatives. A historic meeting and press conference between the two nations. 📸 Photo by Kisha Bari
In Brasilia’s Congress, a mural honors every woman elected since the 1988 constitution secured rights for women and Black citizens. 📸 Photo by Kisha Bari
The Path Forward
Our investigation revealed that reproductive justice movements worldwide face similar challenges: criminalization targeting the most vulnerable, media stigmatization, and political systems prioritizing ideology over health. But it also showed us that resistance strategies can cross borders and solidarity can be transformative.
Representative Souza issued a challenge:
"Access to healthcare is a human rights issue. It should not be politicized. But more importantly, we need you to run for office. We need more Brazilians out there. We need more Latinas out there. We need more women of color out there."
As we left Brazil's Congress holding those green handkerchiefs connecting reproductive rights movements across Latin America, the lesson became clear: reproductive justice is a global movement requiring cross-border learning, international solidarity, and recognition that the same systems oppressing people in Tennessee are active in Brazil—but so is the resistance.
Congresswoman Erika Kokay of Brazil's Workers' Party meets with the FEMINIST delegation at the National Congress in Brasília. Rep. Kokay shared critical insights about Brazil's reproductive justice landscape, including alarming sexual violence statistics and ongoing legislative threats from conservative lawmakers seeking to criminalize all pregnancy interruptions and eliminate emergency contraception access. 📸 by Kisha Bari
Support the Organizations We Met
Brazilian Organizations:
➝ Criola (criola.org.br) - Reproductive justice for Afro-Brazilians
➝ AzMina (azmina.com.br) - Media advocacy for reproductive rights
➝ Nem Presa Nem Morta (nempresanemmorta.org) - Abortion rights organizing
US Organizations:
➝ Women's Equality Center - International reproductive rights delegations
Sources and References
¹ Criola, "Sumário Executivo: Números da Violência Racial e de Gênero Contra Meninas e Mulheres Negras Cis e Trans no Brasil," 2024
² Reports in Public Health, 2021 study on abortion facility distribution in Brazil
³ PMC article "In the name of public health: misoprostol and the new criminalization of abortion in Brazil," 2021
⁴ 2024 study on pesticide exposure and pregnancy outcomes in Mato Grosso agribusiness regions
Additional reporting based on interviews conducted during July 2025 reproductive rights delegation to Brazil, organized by Women's Equality Center and State Innovation Exchange.