Abortionists are embracing the devastation wrought on pregnant mothers by the Zika virus to advance a global pro-choice agenda, saying mothers must be able to safely and affordably terminate pregnancies if birth defects are a likely outcome, or if the parents can’t afford costs associated with follow-on medical care of afflicted children.
Since the outbreak of the Zika virus last year in Brazil, thousands of babies have been born with neurological defects linked to the mosquito-borne virus, and global health leaders are advising women in potential contact with the virus to avoid getting pregnant. Abortionists are using the crisis as an opportunity to attack pro-life laws, especially in Brazil, which has some of the most conservative abortion laws in the world.
“Some news reports have included accounts of women being abandoned by their partners after the birth of a baby with neurological problems,” Debora Diniz, a University of Brazil professor, wrote in a New York Times op-ed Monday. “The state shouldn’t abandon them, too.”
Diniz argued Brazil’s pro-life laws disproportionately affect poor women, since they cannot afford to take the measures necessary to avoid the virus and have the least access to birth control. Abortion is illegal in Brazil, except in cases of rape or life of the mother, or if the baby has a serious birth defect called anencephaly that almost always results in its death within hours of birth.
“The Zika epidemic has given Brazil a unique opportunity to look at inequality and reproductive rights, and to change how the country treats women,” she wrote, arguing Brazil must legalize abortion, so women can get rid of unborn children that might have a birth defect.
“The government should immediately offer a comprehensive package of sexual and reproductive health care to all Brazilian women, with a specific focus on those at most risk of Zika infection,” she added.
Two Georgetown University law professors also used the crisis as an opportunity to advance their pro-abortion agendas, demanding the WHO advocate abortion as a means of dealing with the crisis in a recent article on the school’s law blog.
“It is critical that [WHO] recommendations require countries to respect, protect, and fulfil women’s health-related human rights, including reproductive rights,” Georgetown professors Lawrence Gostin and Alexandra Phelan wrote. “This includes access to contraception (including the birth control pill and condoms) but also to accessible, affordable, acceptable, and quality abortions.”
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