1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Dear listener, It's Maria no Josa and before we start, 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: I want to give you a heads up because this 3 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:12,119 Speaker 1: is not a regular Latino USA episode. Today representing the 4 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: first episode of the network, which is a new series 5 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:19,480 Speaker 1: that let You Know USA co produced with NPR's Embedded podcast. 6 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:20,479 Speaker 2: Now. 7 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,959 Speaker 1: This series is about something that is really relevant in 8 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: the United States right now, and that is abortion. But 9 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:32,160 Speaker 1: it's not the story you might be expecting. Our series 10 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: follows women across the Americas who discovered a method to 11 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: have safe abortions without doctors in countries where abortion was 12 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: pretty much banned, and these women changed how people access 13 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: abortion not only in their countries but around the world, 14 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: including right here in the United States today. For over 15 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: a year, Latin Know USA producers Victoria Estrada and Marta 16 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: Martinez have been reporting on this story and now they're 17 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: going to take us all over the Americas to follow 18 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: this movement made up of women's networks. Here now are 19 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: Martha and Victoria with the first episode of the network. 20 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 3: It was one of those moments when people understand their 21 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 3: witnessing history, they remember where they were. 22 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:28,040 Speaker 4: I was standing at my standing desk in my house, 23 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 4: waiting and. 24 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 5: I just started crying at my desk. 25 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 2: It was totally surreal. 26 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 6: They remember where they were when Roe versus Wade fell. 27 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 3: The biggest change to abortion rights in the United States 28 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 3: and nearly half a century is here. 29 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 6: The Supreme Court had made its decision. 30 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 3: Ruling that ends the constitutional right to an abortion. While 31 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 3: abortion rights opponents celebrated the news that Rowe had been overturned, 32 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 3: many abortion rights supporters feared the US was going backwards, 33 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 3: back to the nineteen hundred. 34 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 7: It's like, what are they going to take from us next? 35 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 6: Back to a more dangerous time. 36 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 4: This is an emergency, This is an extreme crisis. 37 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 3: People will die across the country. 38 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 6: Protesters gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington, 39 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 6: d c. Holding images of code hangers over their heads 40 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 6: right by by. 41 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 3: The day after the fall of Row, thirteen states immediately 42 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,800 Speaker 3: banned or severely limited abortion. Eventually nearly half of old 43 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 3: states did, and within a month of the ruling, dozens 44 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 3: of clinics stopped performing abortions, forcing many Americans to trouble 45 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 3: hundreds of miles to get one. Other laws targeted abortion providers. 46 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 8: Are you scared? 47 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 9: I am scared, and I think a lot of us 48 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 9: are because there's nowhere else in medicine that is policed 49 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 9: and regulated and now criminalized to such a degree. 50 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,359 Speaker 6: But not all abortion rights supporters felt this way. 51 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 2: Everybody was so calm in the network. 52 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 6: The network, it's what we're calling the diffuse set of 53 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 6: people who are expanding abortion access in an unconventional way. 54 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 6: They were not panicking. 55 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 8: Everybody was like, we've been doing this work, We're going 56 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 8: to continue doing this work. 57 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 2: Nothing is changing. Who cares. 58 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 8: I'm actually energized. 59 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 3: This network it's hard to even describe because it's not 60 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 3: formal or centralized. There's no ceo, no headquarters. 61 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 6: Some people work together, but plenty don't know each other. 62 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 6: They're midwives and nurses, grandmothers and friends. 63 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 3: This network cross borders and reaches people throughout the world, 64 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 3: from South Africa to Mian March to Mexico and all 65 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 3: over the United States. What unites the network is how 66 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 3: they are expanding abortion access by helping women have safe 67 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 3: abortions on their own without a doctor involved. 68 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 6: Their method grew out of a very small thing. It 69 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 6: actually fits in the palm of your hand. 70 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 3: But despite being physically tiny, when it comes to reproactive health, 71 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 3: doctors researchers and people working in this field say it's 72 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 3: been monumental, extraordinarily important. 73 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 8: It's a lifesaver in so many ways. 74 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 3: Is the equivalent to the discovery of penicillin, because it's 75 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 3: a before and. 76 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 6: After, But unlike penicillin, this discovery has not been universally embraced. Instead, 77 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 6: it's the latest target of abortion restrictions that continue to 78 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 6: make the news. 79 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,479 Speaker 7: The future of abortion access could be impacted by a 80 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,040 Speaker 7: new lawsuit just filed by the Attorney General of Texas. 81 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,920 Speaker 7: Long dormant federal law prohibits the nailing of any supplies 82 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 7: used for abortions. 83 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 6: Possession could be punishable by up to five years in prison. 84 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,919 Speaker 3: From NPR's Embedded and Futuro Media's Latino Usa, This Is 85 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 3: the Network. 86 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 6: A series about the DIY method that tooks safe abortions 87 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,159 Speaker 6: out of the clinic and the women who made it happen. 88 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 3: Episode one, Santo Tech. 89 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 6: I'm Victoria Estrada. 90 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 3: And I'm Marta Martine. We're both producers at the public 91 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 3: radio show Latino USA. We've been covering reproductive rights in 92 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:47,280 Speaker 3: the Americas for years now. 93 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 6: And when we started to see more and more challenges 94 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 6: to abortion access in the US. We immediately thought about 95 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 6: Latin America because historically Latin America has had strict abortion bands, 96 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 6: not so different from what we're seeing now in parts 97 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:02,280 Speaker 6: of the US. 98 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,159 Speaker 3: But as research from around the world shows, bands don't 99 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 3: stop people from getting abortions. They just lead them to 100 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 3: take more risks to end their pregnancies. That's where the 101 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:17,040 Speaker 3: phrase bacali abortion comes from and where we get the 102 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,479 Speaker 3: image of a woman using a code hanger self managing 103 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 3: her abortion. 104 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 6: But nearly forty years ago, in Latin America, women developed 105 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,919 Speaker 6: an abortion method that was medically safe and effective, no 106 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,359 Speaker 6: doctor needed, and this new type of self managed abortion 107 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 6: transformed how abortions happened across the world today. 108 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 3: It all started in Brazil, where this method was born 109 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 3: in the late nineteen eighties. Victoria and I took a 110 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,479 Speaker 3: trip there last year in twenty twenty four, and one 111 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 3: of the people we interviewed was Jacqueline pe Tanki Hi. 112 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 10: Jacqueline. 113 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 3: Jacqueline is a longtime feminist advocate how was Your Day? 114 00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 3: And she lived through Brazil's military dictatorship, which lasted for 115 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 3: more than two decades. When the dictatorship fell in nineteen 116 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 3: eighty five, she thought to get women's rights into Brazil's 117 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 3: new constitution, because women at the time had so little 118 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 3: say in their workplaces, marriages, or over their bodies. 119 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 2: So here in front. 120 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 11: You have the Christ. 121 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 2: Oh, it's here, right here. 122 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 3: From Jacqueline's falcony in Rio de Janeiro, we could see 123 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 3: what's probably the most iconic image of Brazil, the statue 124 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 3: of Christ the Redeemer. So you see it every day 125 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 3: in the morning when you wake up, like hello and yeah, 126 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 3: I say hello, Christ, how are you be good? 127 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 2: Be good, Jesus Christ. 128 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 3: Maybe you've seen it in a movie or photos. It's 129 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 3: this huge sculpture overlooking the whole city of Rio de 130 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 3: Janeiro on top of this spectacular cliff. It's interesting because 131 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 3: I was actually talking about this with Victoria this morning, 132 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 3: that religion is very resent in this city in a 133 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 3: very visual way, because you have the Christ up there 134 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,239 Speaker 3: in the mountain looking at you all from everywhere. 135 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, everywhere, everywhere. 136 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 3: It's this constant reminder of the influenced Catholicism has had 137 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 3: on Brazil for much of its history. 138 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 11: For the careful of church contraception has always been a 139 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 11: key issue. 140 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 3: Until the eighties, many Brazilian women didn't have great access 141 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 3: to birth control before then. In the Burhish region of 142 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 3: the country, women had an average almost six children. 143 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 6: We heard that some women just didn't know much about 144 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:45,679 Speaker 6: their own bodies. For example, some women were afraid of 145 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 6: using tampons because they thought they might get lost inside 146 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 6: of their vaginas. We also heard that some women thought 147 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 6: that their vagina was connected to their mouth. 148 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 3: This lack of knowledge had serious consequences. 149 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 11: Significant let's call punishment. It was on women's bodies, death 150 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 11: or morbidity. 151 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 5: Okay, could you just count to ten whom doyce. 152 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 3: In the nineteen eighties, Brazil's maternal mortality rate was higher 153 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 3: than most of the rest of the world. 154 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 5: UVV my, do we see you in Mohel? 155 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,560 Speaker 12: I lived through a time when women got sick and died, 156 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 12: died of infection, died of bleeding, young women, extremely young women. 157 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 6: This is doctor Rivaldo Albuquerque so medicotetra. 158 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 12: I am a gynecologist, I am a practicing Catholic and 159 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:57,680 Speaker 12: I have been working with women's health since I was 160 00:09:57,720 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 12: a medical student. 161 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 6: I visited Rivaldo in the coastal city of Recife in 162 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:06,679 Speaker 6: northeast Brazil. It's the poorest region in the country. When 163 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 6: he started working in a public hospital in nineteen eighty five, 164 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 6: the state that Recife is in had the highest maternal 165 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 6: mortality rate in all of Brazil. Rivaldo saw it every 166 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:19,560 Speaker 6: day in the emergency room, a lot of pregnant women 167 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,439 Speaker 6: coming into a r with complications from a lack of 168 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:27,679 Speaker 6: prenatal care, like chronically high blood pressure, and also complications 169 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:28,320 Speaker 6: from abortion. 170 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 3: Abortion was and still is illegal in most cases in Brazil, 171 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 3: and it was often seen as a sin, but that 172 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:40,440 Speaker 3: doesn't mean women were not getting abortions. Research from that 173 00:10:40,559 --> 00:10:44,280 Speaker 3: time estimated there were between one and four million abortions 174 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 3: happening in the country every year. 175 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 5: I spasushkity on. 176 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 12: People who had the money could look for doctors who 177 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:56,319 Speaker 12: did abortions in clinics in hospitals with every safety precaution, 178 00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 12: using sterilized materials. 179 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 6: In other words, people who had the money could go 180 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 6: see a doctor who was willing to break the law 181 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 6: for the right price. Those were not the women who 182 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 6: ended up in the emergency room where Rivaldo worked. His 183 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:17,319 Speaker 6: patients had often gone to places that were less reputable 184 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:18,319 Speaker 6: and unsafe. 185 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 3: Others just tried to self manage their abortion. 186 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 10: We heard about lots of ways, herbs, teas or drinks, 187 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:33,400 Speaker 10: shahs beb in, session of foreign objects, the rods of 188 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 10: an umbrella, needles, and whatever medicines they could buy at 189 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:39,479 Speaker 10: the pharmacy. 190 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:42,680 Speaker 4: You know all the horror stories that you read about. 191 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 3: By the time women got to Rivaldo, they often had 192 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 3: perforations in their uterus, hemorrhages, and serious infections. 193 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 6: Rivaldo told us about a specific case that has stayed 194 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 6: with him. It was a patient who was only a 195 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 6: few years younger, and he was at the time. 196 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 5: Romomili Diziandois Feelius. 197 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 12: She was a nineteen year old woman who had already 198 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 12: had two children. 199 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 13: She came in with a generalized infection. 200 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 12: It was a desperate condition and we didn't have any 201 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 12: background information about this woman. She wouldn't speak, She was 202 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 12: in no position to explain what had happened to her, 203 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:29,680 Speaker 12: and the person who brought her in didn't want to 204 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:30,319 Speaker 12: talk either. 205 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 6: Rivaldo and the other doctors suspected she had an unsafe abortion, 206 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 6: and so they decided to do an exploratory operation. 207 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,600 Speaker 12: So that we could evaluate the abdomen what was happening 208 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 12: with this infection. And when we opened the abdominal cavity, 209 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 12: we found the uterus that smelled part of the word rotten. 210 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:54,559 Speaker 6: Rivaldo still remembers it. 211 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 12: A terrible smell with several perforations. It was a classic 212 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:05,359 Speaker 12: picture of an unsafe abortion. Since it's an illegal procedure. 213 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:09,239 Speaker 12: The women must have stayed home for a few days 214 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:11,679 Speaker 12: or didn't receive proper medication. 215 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 6: Who knows how long she waited to go to the 216 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 6: hospital after signs that something was wrong, and now there 217 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 6: was nothing the doctors could do. 218 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 12: Why did this woman die? I can't tell you without hesitation. 219 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 12: Because she was black and because she was poor. 220 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:37,720 Speaker 6: Poqueraigre Rivaldo told us he really felt for these women. 221 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 12: They are in a situation of suffering, of vulnerability. 222 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 13: Their health and their life are at risk. 223 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:53,080 Speaker 12: I know these women, many are Christians, Evangelical, Catholic, but 224 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 12: they are going through a specific moment in their life. 225 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 13: They are in need. 226 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 3: But Rivaldo was an exception. Many doctors did not treat 227 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 3: these patients well. 228 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 12: Women who had tried to have an abortion were the 229 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,319 Speaker 12: last ones to be treated during our shifts. 230 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 3: So these women they would be in the emergency room 231 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 3: all day long without food or anything to drink. 232 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 12: They spent the whole day fasting waiting for their procedure 233 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:30,080 Speaker 12: on an empty stomach, and they are being punished because 234 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 12: they were the last ones to be taken care of. 235 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 3: He remembers that some doctors wouldn't give the women enough 236 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 3: anesthesia before their diletion and curtash or DNC, so the 237 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 3: women would feel the pain of their cervix being dilated 238 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:49,600 Speaker 3: and the walls of their urs being scraped. 239 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 12: And the women cried out because of the pain of 240 00:14:54,400 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 12: their suffering. Unfortunately, I heard medical staff say, when you 241 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 12: did it, it was a lot of joy, a lot 242 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 12: of pleasure, and now you're crying. 243 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 13: You don't know what you did. You killed the baby. 244 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 6: One doctor told researchers at the time that his hospital 245 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 6: was doing two hysterectomies a week because of so many 246 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 6: botched abortions. Another doctor called working with these patients a 247 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 6: quote revolting process because she was presenting us with a 248 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 6: disgusting mess unquote. 249 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:39,480 Speaker 3: Some doctors went even further than insulting the women. In 250 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 3: some cases they called the police. 251 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 12: And the police would come all the way to the 252 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:46,680 Speaker 12: hospital and handcuff the women. 253 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 13: They would chain them to the bed. Women were arrested. 254 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 3: Rivaldo says his hospital never let this happen, but he 255 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 3: knew it happened elsewhere. 256 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 13: The standard for these women. 257 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 12: So these are things that I will never forget some causes. 258 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 6: At the end of the shift, Rivaldo would make notes 259 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 6: about his patients, who lived, who died. 260 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 12: How many birds, how many sea sections, how many surgeries, 261 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 12: how many abortions, how many infected abortions. 262 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 6: And around the year nineteen eighty seven, he noticed a change, 263 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 6: a big change. 264 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 12: Severe cases of infections, severe cases of hemorrhage. 265 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 13: They disappeared. 266 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 3: Women were still coming into the er, but they were 267 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 3: showing up with new symptoms, much less serious, ones. 268 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:50,160 Speaker 12: Like an increasing body temperature hyperthermia. And it didn't make 269 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 12: sense because you couldn't find an infections condition. Some women 270 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 12: also had astro intestinal symptoms. We realized that there was 271 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 12: something different, and this made us a little confused. 272 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:05,560 Speaker 5: So the show took Kofuzu. 273 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 6: Around the same time, a researcher named Sara Costa was 274 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 6: working for Brazil's School of Public Health in Rio de Janeiro, 275 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:16,600 Speaker 6: more than a thousand miles south from Recife, and she 276 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:18,360 Speaker 6: noticed another big change. 277 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 4: We were seeing this incredible decline in fertility. 278 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:25,920 Speaker 3: Suddenly women were having fewer children but. 279 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:31,120 Speaker 6: Why it was strange because there were no big policy 280 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 6: changes to account for it. 281 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 4: The government wasn't providing much information about how to control fertility, 282 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 4: and the borshin was still illegal. So something just wasn't 283 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 4: adding up. Was its spontaneous use of oral contraception. How 284 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 4: were they getting it? 285 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 3: So in the early nineties, Sarah began talking directly to 286 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 3: the women and we conducted. 287 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 4: Those interviews over a period of several months and analyzed 288 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:01,880 Speaker 4: the results. 289 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:05,400 Speaker 3: She and her team interviewed more than eight hundred pregnant 290 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,919 Speaker 3: women in seven hospitals in Rio de Janeiro. Many of 291 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:12,879 Speaker 3: those women had come into the hospital bleeding. Hospitals in 292 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 3: Rio and in other parts of the country had been 293 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:18,480 Speaker 3: seeing more cases like this in the past few years, 294 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 3: of women who seemed like they had attempted an abortion. 295 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 4: We thought we would actually discover a lot more complications, 296 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 4: serious complications, but most of the women went into hospital 297 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 4: with bleeding, had a cure tage and left left. 298 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,679 Speaker 3: They didn't get stuck in the hospital with infections or 299 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 3: other complications. 300 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:44,760 Speaker 4: It was a bit of a surprise. 301 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:50,840 Speaker 6: In Recife, Rivaldo had noticed a similar pattern. 302 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 13: We had a downward curve. 303 00:18:55,640 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 12: Downward curve in abortion completion, and then there was a 304 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:05,040 Speaker 12: moment when you almost didn't see any complications of abortion 305 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 12: at all. 306 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 5: Praticamuniting now via complicate. 307 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 6: Fewer complications from abortion meant one thing. 308 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:18,200 Speaker 13: Women stopped dying. 309 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:26,680 Speaker 3: Or at least far fewer were dying. From nineteen eighty 310 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 3: six to nineteen ninety one, the time Sarah and Rivaldo 311 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 3: were observing, the World Health Organization recorded a twenty one 312 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:38,160 Speaker 3: percent drop in Brazil's maternal mortality rate. 313 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 12: It seemed like magic, or a better word, familiari. 314 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:53,480 Speaker 6: A miracle, the cause of what Rivaldo calls a miracle. 315 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:54,800 Speaker 6: After the break. 316 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:00,639 Speaker 3: In nineteen seventy three, the same year that Wade was 317 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:04,639 Speaker 3: decided in the United States, something else happened that transformed 318 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:09,159 Speaker 3: reproactive healthcare, but in a much more roundabout way. An 319 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:13,920 Speaker 3: American pharmaceutical company called CERL developed a new drug to 320 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:18,359 Speaker 3: gastric ulcers, kind of like TOMS or pepto bismo or 321 00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 3: milk of magnesia. It was a small, white hexagon shaped 322 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:26,920 Speaker 3: bill with a tiny figure of a stomach edged on 323 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 3: one side. 324 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 6: Not a belly, the actual organ. 325 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 3: It's actually the stomach that makes me remember this bill. 326 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 6: It's called Cytotech and. 327 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:39,880 Speaker 3: Even though it was created by an American pharmaceutical company, 328 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,199 Speaker 3: the Food and Drug Administration was slow to approve it, 329 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:47,560 Speaker 3: several years before being available in the US. Cideattech first 330 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:51,000 Speaker 3: made its way to Europe and then Brazil in nineteen 331 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 3: eighty six. 332 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:57,119 Speaker 6: And here's where it's hard to know what is fact 333 00:20:57,600 --> 00:20:59,919 Speaker 6: and what is part of the myth of side attech, 334 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,240 Speaker 6: because in Brazil this ulcer pill took on a new 335 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:07,200 Speaker 6: life for starters. We know that the original side attack 336 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 6: box came with a warning, but because it's been forty years, 337 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:12,880 Speaker 6: people remember that warning differently. 338 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:17,160 Speaker 3: Jacqueline Petangi, the sociologist who says hello to the Christ 339 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 3: statue every morning in Rio de Janeiro, remembers that the 340 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 3: warning was written out. 341 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,959 Speaker 11: It's that little paper that comes with the medicine that 342 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,160 Speaker 11: says you should avoid to take it if you were 343 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 11: pregnant because it could cause contractions. 344 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 6: Doctor Rivaldo Albuquerque remembers the fine priner more specifically, there was. 345 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 12: A very clear paragraph that said that it should not 346 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 12: be usually in pregnant women because it could cause uterinin 347 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 12: contractions and lead to miscarriage. 348 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:54,160 Speaker 3: Debra Denis, a Brazilian anthropologist and law professor who grew 349 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 3: up in the eighties remembers the warning as an image 350 00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:58,119 Speaker 3: on the box. 351 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:02,920 Speaker 7: It was a profile of a pregnant woman, a big 352 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:08,159 Speaker 7: belly and a warning crossing the belly, and also. 353 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:09,359 Speaker 3: With call there was a skull. 354 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 8: There was his call. 355 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:12,000 Speaker 13: Wow. 356 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:14,160 Speaker 7: I'm one hundred percent sure of that. 357 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:20,600 Speaker 3: We haven't been able to confirm this call, but we 358 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 3: have seen the image of a pregnant woman in a 359 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 3: circle with a slash through it. 360 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,520 Speaker 6: When the pharma company developed Cida Tech, it discovered that 361 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:34,040 Speaker 6: the drug had the significant side effect on women, a 362 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 6: serious side effect. It caused bleeding and contractions that could 363 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 6: induce a miscarriage. 364 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,359 Speaker 3: So for people who were pregnant and wanted to stay 365 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 3: that way, it was a very dangerous pill to take. 366 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 6: But for people who were pregnant and did not want 367 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:52,639 Speaker 6: to be SATEA Tech's side effect wasn't a problem. It 368 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 6: was a solution, a new tool to self manage an abortion. 369 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 6: But unlike the teas and crochet needles women had been using, 370 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 6: set Attack was overwhelmingly safe and effective. 371 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 3: And somebody somewhere, somehow figured that out. 372 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,879 Speaker 4: I don't think we ever identified where it started. 373 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 2: No, it's impossible to know this. Don't forget. We didn't 374 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 2: have social media. Then there's no records. 375 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:25,960 Speaker 6: It wasn't like there was a lot of incentive to 376 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 6: take credit. Whoever did this was likely breaking the law. 377 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:31,200 Speaker 2: They wouldn't give their name. 378 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 11: I am Mary Smith, and listen, you can use this 379 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:36,879 Speaker 11: to induce an abortion. 380 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,720 Speaker 3: Some speculate that it was a pharmacist or a midwife. 381 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,560 Speaker 4: We certainly knew that pharmacists were involved. 382 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 11: I went to the pharmacy and I bought this. 383 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 6: But even if we can't know the original source, we 384 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,440 Speaker 6: do know how the knowledge spread far and white. 385 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 4: The women themselves. 386 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,639 Speaker 7: Women said hah, I have no question and of saying 387 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 7: that it was from women, Brazilian women. Women continue taking 388 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 7: it because it was another woman from her family. 389 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,440 Speaker 4: Who shared with her. It certainly wasn't advertised. 390 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:13,480 Speaker 2: Was in the air. 391 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 11: I can't tell you when something is in the air 392 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:17,640 Speaker 11: among women's talks. 393 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 2: I mean it was in the air. 394 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,719 Speaker 8: Sayra was spreading by word of mouth. 395 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:33,280 Speaker 3: This is a woman. We're calling by her initial r 396 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,720 Speaker 3: to protect her safety because what she did was and 397 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:41,879 Speaker 3: still is illegal in Brazil. Process. 398 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:44,639 Speaker 8: A woman who went through the process would tell another 399 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:46,439 Speaker 8: hey by that by that. 400 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 3: The whispers about side attack reached Dart in nineteen eighty six, 401 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:53,200 Speaker 3: the same year it came on the market in Brazil, 402 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:55,879 Speaker 3: and she thought it sounded a lot better than the 403 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 3: first abortion she had been through, the type of dangerous 404 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 3: abortion Rivaldo had seen time and time again in the 405 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:04,840 Speaker 3: emergency room in the early eighties. 406 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,639 Speaker 6: The first time ar needed an abortion, she was a minor, 407 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:13,200 Speaker 6: thirteen or fourteen years old, living in Pacific. She was 408 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,520 Speaker 6: dating someone a lot older than her and ars even 409 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 6: though she was in a relationship, she understood almost nothing 410 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,640 Speaker 6: about sex or her body because of how she grew up. 411 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 8: Oh, my mother raised us like potatoes in the ground. 412 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,200 Speaker 6: Our was one of twelve kids. 413 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,960 Speaker 2: What did you cons I had us on sex so well. 414 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:37,120 Speaker 8: We didn't have the talk about what sex was. I 415 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 8: just knew that I was going to get kissed. I 416 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:42,040 Speaker 8: didn't know that the thing was going to create a child, 417 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,960 Speaker 8: so I didn't know that a partner shouldn't cross certain boundaries. 418 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 6: When Our started feeling funny and her period stopped, she 419 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:51,520 Speaker 6: confided in her older sister. 420 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:58,200 Speaker 8: She sat me down and said, look, you're pregnant. There's 421 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:00,280 Speaker 8: going to be a baby, and we have to find 422 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:02,399 Speaker 8: a solution. Because Dad is going to kick you out 423 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:04,240 Speaker 8: of the house, or he's going to kill you. 424 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,480 Speaker 6: Her sister didn't mean it as an exaggeration. She thought 425 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,160 Speaker 6: her dad would literally kill r if he found out 426 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 6: she was pregnant. He nearly done just that a few 427 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 6: years earlier. 428 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:18,919 Speaker 8: To our sister, Eileen Lavish, he once took out his 429 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 8: gun and tried to kill my sister, the same sister 430 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,959 Speaker 8: who helped me. Because my sister lost her virginity. 431 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:29,879 Speaker 6: So it was dangerous for ar to stay pregnant, but 432 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:32,840 Speaker 6: it was also risky to get an abortion, both physically 433 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 6: and legally. Our sister took her to a midwife, and 434 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:41,960 Speaker 6: our remembers the midwife inserted a catheter into her cervix 435 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 6: to induce an abortion. When she returned to her parents' house, 436 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 6: she had very heavy bleeding and then passed out. 437 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:53,560 Speaker 8: Okay, Daddy, I actually fell on the bathroom floor. My 438 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,639 Speaker 8: sister picked me up, showered me, and told my mother, 439 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 8: I'm going to take her because she's having her period. 440 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 8: It's very strong and she's weak. She didn't tell my father. 441 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:08,720 Speaker 6: Our sister took her to the hospital. While she was there, 442 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,400 Speaker 6: doctors questioned her. They wanted to know if she'd done 443 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:15,200 Speaker 6: anything to cause an abortion. Ar kept denying she had, 444 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:17,280 Speaker 6: even when they threatened her with jail. 445 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 8: Is he no? I said, no, of course I had 446 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:23,360 Speaker 8: to deny it. I was told to deny it. It 447 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:25,560 Speaker 8: was a crime that involved a lot of people. 448 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 6: Right Ur was given a DNC to complete her abortion. 449 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,320 Speaker 6: The doctors told her she nearly perforated her uterus and 450 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 6: had been at risk of losing it. R stayed in 451 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,400 Speaker 6: the hospital for several days to recover in a maternity 452 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 6: room with other women who'd attempted an abortion. 453 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,119 Speaker 8: All of them had done something, and the one next 454 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:45,359 Speaker 8: to me. 455 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:50,480 Speaker 6: She died, died. I asked why, Yes. 456 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:54,480 Speaker 8: I had a curatage right then I was fine, but 457 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,639 Speaker 8: the one next to me, she never came back. 458 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:06,680 Speaker 3: A few years later, when I was nineteen years old, 459 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 3: she got pregnant a second time. 460 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 5: She says. 461 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 3: The guy she had seen just a couple of times 462 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,800 Speaker 3: forced himself on her. I decided to have another abortion, 463 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 3: but this time it was a very different experience because 464 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 3: of cytotech aparash trity. 465 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:26,280 Speaker 8: It was for gastritis. So they sold it at the pharmacy. 466 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 8: Like water, you just go in and say, hey, give 467 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,280 Speaker 8: me a box of cyitotech. Anyone could buy it. 468 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,160 Speaker 3: The pharmacy she bought it from told her to swallow 469 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 3: two pills, wait a couple of hours, then take two 470 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 3: more pills until she finished six pills. He also gave 471 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 3: her an instruction that was very common at the time. 472 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 8: Oh, look, you were going to expel. When you expel, 473 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:52,600 Speaker 8: when you're bleeding a lot, go to the hospital. 474 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,480 Speaker 3: I went home and took the pills. 475 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:01,280 Speaker 8: So the contraction started and I had some leading, she says. 476 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,200 Speaker 3: The pain was strong, but not like with the first abortion. 477 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 3: She was bleeding, but she didn't faint. She didn't have 478 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 3: her sister by her side, but she was able to 479 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 3: get herself to the emergency room. One thing was the same. 480 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 3: The doctors again questioned her and again are denied that 481 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:23,640 Speaker 3: she had done anything to cause an abortion, and this 482 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 3: time arsas she didn't have to stay in the hospital. 483 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:33,720 Speaker 3: She had a DNC and left. Her parents never found 484 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:37,000 Speaker 3: out about it. Art went on with her life. She 485 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 3: moved in with her sister, who supported her going. 486 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 8: To school in form so I graduated as a social worker. 487 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,000 Speaker 3: The two experiences were very difficult for r but one 488 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 3: thing was clear. 489 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:53,560 Speaker 8: The second time, I didn't have a lot of side effects. 490 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:56,720 Speaker 8: I didn't have a lot of bleeding, so it was 491 00:29:56,840 --> 00:30:02,040 Speaker 8: safer for me. I felt more comfortable Festal. 492 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:15,959 Speaker 6: Still, she wishes she'd had more support because r and 493 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:18,600 Speaker 6: women like her who took side attech to cause an 494 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:23,360 Speaker 6: abortion in those early years, they were experimenting on themselves. 495 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 6: It's not like the pills came with a slip of 496 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:28,240 Speaker 6: paper explaining how to have an abortion. 497 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 3: In fact, if you remember, the instruction said don't take 498 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 3: this pill if you're pregnant. 499 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:37,440 Speaker 6: In nineteen ninety three, researchers from a public university in 500 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:40,480 Speaker 6: the country published a study called side Attack in Brazil 501 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 6: at Least it doesn't kill. In it, most women reported 502 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 6: taking between four and sixteen pills, but some reported taking dozens. 503 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 6: It's likely that ar didn't take the right dose to 504 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 6: have a complete abortion. 505 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:59,480 Speaker 3: But over time, Brazilian women again figured out something by themselves. 506 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,280 Speaker 4: One of the interesting things that I noted in my 507 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 4: research is that women got much better at using cytotech. 508 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:10,560 Speaker 3: This is Sarah Costa again, the researcher in Rio de Janeiro. 509 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,240 Speaker 3: While she conducted the study in the early nineties, several 510 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:18,160 Speaker 3: years after cytotech became available, she heard about how women 511 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 3: were taking the bills, put. 512 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:23,160 Speaker 4: The manto your tongue or in set the menual vagina. 513 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:25,800 Speaker 3: Eventually they started getting better results. 514 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 4: At the beginning, I would say that a lot of 515 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 4: women needed cureitage, but it turned out once they got 516 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:36,960 Speaker 4: better at using it, they were actually having complete abortions. 517 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:41,000 Speaker 3: In other words, they no longer needed a DNC. How 518 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 3: long was your data collection period? 519 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 2: I think it was about. 520 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:46,320 Speaker 4: Six to nine months. 521 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:48,480 Speaker 2: First it's fast. 522 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:53,320 Speaker 4: Yeah, so you know, we were able to observe change. 523 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 6: Of the women who went to a hospital after having 524 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:59,600 Speaker 6: an abortion, Sarah found that nearly sixty percent reported using 525 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:02,880 Speaker 6: Sida tech to self manage it. She wrote that this 526 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:07,360 Speaker 6: represented quote only the tip of the iceberg, because many 527 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,040 Speaker 6: more women could have taken side attech and not needed 528 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:14,600 Speaker 6: medical help. According to our research, the median dose the 529 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:18,720 Speaker 6: women were taking was eight hundred micrograms four pills, which 530 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 6: is the same dose the World Health Organization now recommends 531 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 6: for pregnancies up to twelve weeks. 532 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:28,400 Speaker 3: And how are they getting this information? Sarah found that 533 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:31,960 Speaker 3: the overwhelming majority of women who used Sido tech eighty 534 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:36,600 Speaker 3: four percent had learned about it from friends, relatives, or colleagues. 535 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,960 Speaker 3: It was the network starting to form women loosely connected 536 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:45,400 Speaker 3: by whispers. Just by sharing their experiences what worked and 537 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:48,640 Speaker 3: what didn't work, they began to build knowledge. 538 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:53,680 Speaker 7: Women know how to be scientists at home when science 539 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 7: is not offering what they need. 540 00:32:56,640 --> 00:33:00,800 Speaker 6: This is Devorah Denis Agan, the Brazilian anthropologist law professor 541 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:03,200 Speaker 6: who remembers the skull on the side attack box. 542 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:08,360 Speaker 7: So basically, it's about observation, it's about taking experiments in 543 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:12,640 Speaker 7: our own bodies, and it's about sharing with others. 544 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:17,640 Speaker 6: She calls it domestic science, and she saw the results 545 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,640 Speaker 6: of this domestic science for herself. By the time she 546 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 6: learned about side attack, it was no good deal. 547 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,920 Speaker 7: So I was at school in the eighties when I 548 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:31,720 Speaker 7: saw for the first time a classmate with the pills, 549 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:34,680 Speaker 7: telling us I'm going to take them today. 550 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,479 Speaker 6: Her classmate got the pills through a family member and 551 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:39,000 Speaker 6: they worked. 552 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 7: Can you believe that the day after she was in school. 553 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 3: I'm wondering why you think cito tech became so popular 554 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:51,040 Speaker 3: so quickly. 555 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 7: Let me try five reasons. One, it was discovered by women, 556 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 7: It was shared from women to women. It proved to 557 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:06,120 Speaker 7: walk and to be safe. It was used for an 558 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:11,879 Speaker 7: essential need to women's lives, and it was available at 559 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:15,240 Speaker 7: the community level, and it was cheap, very cheap. 560 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:19,480 Speaker 3: Pharmacists in Brazil told us they sold it for about 561 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:23,120 Speaker 3: five bucks in the early nineties, compared to five hundred 562 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:26,840 Speaker 3: dollars for an abortion at a private clinic. At the time, 563 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:31,160 Speaker 3: cide Attech sales exploded. Researchers tracked that in the late 564 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 3: eighties and early nineties, more than fifty thousand boxes of 565 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 3: the pill were being sold in Brazil every month. 566 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,840 Speaker 6: Actually, there are more reasons women chose cide attack. In 567 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:51,120 Speaker 6: that same report from nineteen ninety three, CEDA Tech in Brazil, 568 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:54,520 Speaker 6: at least it doesn't kill. The researchers interviewed women who 569 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:58,239 Speaker 6: had used it. In their testimonies, they described lots of 570 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:01,279 Speaker 6: reasons for liking it. We had voice actors read some 571 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:02,520 Speaker 6: of their quotes aloud. 572 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 3: Since it wasn't a procedure requiring a doctor's expertise, it 573 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,160 Speaker 3: didn't exactly feel like an abortion to some of these women. 574 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:13,120 Speaker 8: It's less traumatic, a lot less. You know what the 575 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:16,880 Speaker 8: sensation is. The sensation is that your period is late, 576 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,399 Speaker 8: and so you take medicine for it to come. 577 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:24,240 Speaker 6: As a result, some women describe feeling less guilty taking 578 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:24,640 Speaker 6: the pill. 579 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:27,879 Speaker 3: If I have gone to a clinic, I would never 580 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:32,319 Speaker 3: have forgiven myself, and women felt it put them, not 581 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:35,280 Speaker 3: their partners or doctors in control. 582 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:40,080 Speaker 14: Using side attack is something that is yours. Nobody has 583 00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:42,360 Speaker 14: to know what you did or you didn't do. No 584 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:46,120 Speaker 14: one invades your privacy. Even the gynecologists that I went 585 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:48,960 Speaker 14: to later didn't know that I had had an abortion. 586 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:54,960 Speaker 6: Women who wanted abortions weren't the only ones who appreciated 587 00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:58,880 Speaker 6: side attack. Many doctors did too, because they didn't have 588 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,879 Speaker 6: to deal with so many gruesome cases or do such 589 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:06,480 Speaker 6: serious procedures like having to remove a uterus. One doctor 590 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:10,440 Speaker 6: in sel Paulo told the researchers that he seemed hasterectomsdropped 591 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:13,680 Speaker 6: from two a week to one every six months. 592 00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:18,200 Speaker 3: When we asked Rivaldo the Ovigian receive how he remembers 593 00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:21,400 Speaker 3: feeling at the time, he used one word. 594 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:24,319 Speaker 5: I'll leave you relief. I leave the. 595 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:29,839 Speaker 3: Relief of mind and of conscience, simpme. 596 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:30,440 Speaker 5: We to peel it. 597 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:34,080 Speaker 12: I was happy because I saw that what we couldn't do, 598 00:36:34,719 --> 00:36:38,479 Speaker 12: which was to help women, the network was doing it, 599 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:40,920 Speaker 12: and that's what I wanted. 600 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:43,920 Speaker 13: I wanted women to be healthy. 601 00:36:44,320 --> 00:36:48,000 Speaker 12: So if I couldn't do it effectively, the network was 602 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:48,480 Speaker 12: doing it. 603 00:36:56,160 --> 00:37:00,080 Speaker 6: Rivaldo told us that feminists and health providers coined the nickname. 604 00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:06,720 Speaker 5: For some attack ashin Shamavady, Santo Techi, Sondy, Santo Santo Techi. 605 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:09,360 Speaker 6: They called it Santo. 606 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:25,520 Speaker 3: Tech, cyto tech, Santa tech. It has many names. You 607 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:29,279 Speaker 3: might know it as miso prosto aka miso like the 608 00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:31,160 Speaker 3: soup or misto. 609 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:34,600 Speaker 6: There's no agreement on how to pronounce it. Experts believe 610 00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:38,200 Speaker 6: it's now the most commonly used abortion pill in the world, 611 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:41,719 Speaker 6: and the World Health Organization says it's safe to self 612 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,320 Speaker 6: manage with pills through twelve weeks of pregnancy. 613 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:49,400 Speaker 3: Later in the series, we follow the network as it 614 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:53,040 Speaker 3: spreads this pill across Latin America. 615 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:58,640 Speaker 6: I was like, what, no way, and into the US. Oh, 616 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:02,640 Speaker 6: there's a whole of you, and you're all like underground 617 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:04,840 Speaker 6: and secret squirrel and using different names. 618 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:06,799 Speaker 2: It was just mind blowing. 619 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:08,279 Speaker 10: Up. 620 00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:11,960 Speaker 3: Next, women create an entirely new support system around me. 621 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:21,319 Speaker 3: So that challenges the medical establishment and the law al 622 00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:22,399 Speaker 3: e sib. 623 00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:25,160 Speaker 11: Someone was going to do what we didn't dare to 624 00:38:25,719 --> 00:38:27,800 Speaker 11: because we had a license and we were afraid of 625 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:31,240 Speaker 11: the law. 626 00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:46,080 Speaker 6: If you want to hear the rest of the series 627 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:50,040 Speaker 6: right now before everyone else, go sign up for Embedded Plus. 628 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:54,120 Speaker 6: Embedded is a home for ambitious storytelling at MPR, and 629 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:56,719 Speaker 6: signing up for Embedded Plus is a great way to 630 00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:59,960 Speaker 6: support that work. You'll get early access to every Embedded 631 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:04,120 Speaker 6: series and sponsor free listening. Go to Plus dot NPR 632 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:06,920 Speaker 6: dot org slash embedded to find out more. 633 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:12,320 Speaker 3: The network from Embedded is a collaboration with Latino Usa, 634 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:16,440 Speaker 3: a production of Futuro Media. This episode was produced by 635 00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:20,600 Speaker 3: Monica Moreles Garcia and Abby Wendel. Re Rena Cohen edited 636 00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:25,359 Speaker 3: the series. Additional reporting by Abby Wendel, fact checking by 637 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:31,239 Speaker 3: Cecil Davis Basquez, nicolet Kahn, and Johanna Romano Sanchez. 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Our executive producers are Marlon Bishop and Penilee Ramidez, 646 00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:12,160 Speaker 6: and our production managers are Jessica Ellis and Nancy Trujuillo. 647 00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:16,400 Speaker 3: Thanks to our managing editor of Standards and Practices, Tony Kevin, 648 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:20,440 Speaker 3: and Tojohannes Urghi and Michael Ratner for legal support and 649 00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:25,600 Speaker 3: Tommy Evans, MPR's managing editor Editorial Review. Our visuals editor 650 00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:29,240 Speaker 3: is Emily Bogol. Original tail art by Luke Medina. 651 00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:34,480 Speaker 6: Special thanks to Alissa nat Warney, Selina Simons, Steffen, Mariana 652 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:39,719 Speaker 6: de la Barba, Maria Matta Bruno, Julia Carno, Roberta Fortuna, 653 00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:46,040 Speaker 6: Dina Ortega, Kelly Blanchard, Maureen Paul Lure, Rivera, Abigail Aiken, Gisell, 654 00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:51,800 Speaker 6: carinod red Wine and Jefferson Drest And a big thanks 655 00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:53,800 Speaker 6: to our embedded plus supporters. 656 00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:55,440 Speaker 3: I'm Marta MARTINEV. 657 00:40:55,719 --> 00:40:56,800 Speaker 6: I'm Victoria Strada. 658 00:40:57,120 --> 00:40:58,800 Speaker 3: This is embedded from MPR. 659 00:40:59,040 --> 00:40:59,960 Speaker 6: Thanks for listening. 660 00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:01,600 Speaker 3: We taknakias for the scutard. 661 00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:07,600 Speaker 7: Latino USA is brought to you in part by the 662 00:41:07,719 --> 00:41:12,480 Speaker 7: Levi Strauss Foundation outfitting movements and leaders fighting for a 663 00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:16,040 Speaker 7: more just and abundant world, with the support from the 664 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:18,040 Speaker 7: International Women's Media Foundation 665 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:22,160 Speaker 8: As part of its Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice in 666 00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:25,600 Speaker 8: the America's initiative, and the v Day Foundation