1
00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:11,560
Speaker 1: We're in the maternity waiting room at Hospital Universitario Erasmomeos,

2
00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:15,680
Speaker 1: the main public hospital in Kukuta, Colombia's biggest border city

3
00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,400
Speaker 1: with Venezuela. It's before the pandemic and there are some

4
00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:23,520
Speaker 1: fifteen pregnant women sitting in the green towl hallway. It's

5
00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,960
Speaker 1: hot and the fens are buzzing. The women sit quietly

6
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,600
Speaker 1: in tank tops and flip flops. They wrap their prominent bellies.

7
00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:36,120
Speaker 1: One young woman stands out. She's wearing a pink woolbanie,

8
00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,839
Speaker 1: squeezed between two older, bulky women. She looks fragile in

9
00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,000
Speaker 1: her blue hospital gown. She holds an ivy bag in

10
00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,839
Speaker 1: her left hand. Her name is exibell Enriquez. You're in

11
00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:50,680
Speaker 1: a so long, so long and COLDEO.

12
00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:59,200
Speaker 2: Then go making Eqimnapolis pools online.

13
00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:03,960
Speaker 1: Al Exibel traveled alone more than seven hundred miles from Antote,

14
00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:08,399
Speaker 1: her hometown in northeastern Venezuela. She was afraid of giving

15
00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,000
Speaker 1: birth in her home country because Venezuelan hospitals have no

16
00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:16,319
Speaker 1: resources and she couldn't afford a private clinic. And clearly

17
00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:19,200
Speaker 1: she wasn't the only one. More than half of the

18
00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:28,200
Speaker 1: women in the waiting room are Venezuelan two. See my

19
00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,920
Speaker 1: conversation with Exibel ends a propertly she's having really painful

20
00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:35,720
Speaker 1: contractions and a nurse takes her way into the delivery room.

21
00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,840
Speaker 1: At twenty years old, she's about to give birth to

22
00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:42,640
Speaker 1: her second child. None of her pregnancies were planned.

23
00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,000
Speaker 3: From Futuro Media, It's Latino Usa. I'm Maria in no

24
00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:56,520
Speaker 3: Josa today. Birth control or the lack of it in

25
00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:05,600
Speaker 3: times of economic crisis. The prolonged economic crisis in Venezuela

26
00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:11,200
Speaker 3: has made scarcity commonplace. The most basic goods like toilet paper, toothpaste,

27
00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,440
Speaker 3: or soap can be impossible to find, and in any case,

28
00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:19,360
Speaker 3: they're often very expensive. The same happens with birth control methods.

29
00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,880
Speaker 3: Condoms or pills are almost non existent. Venezuelans often have

30
00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:26,840
Speaker 3: to resort to the black market to find them, but

31
00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:31,240
Speaker 3: most people need to prioritize food or medicine. The lack

32
00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:35,000
Speaker 3: of contraceptives may not sound like an urgent need for

33
00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:39,040
Speaker 3: some people, but it's crucial for many women in Venezuela.

34
00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:44,600
Speaker 3: Contraceptive shortages have driven pregnancies up, especially among teenagers, and

35
00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,679
Speaker 3: thousands of women are leaving the country to safely give

36
00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,160
Speaker 3: birth or in some cases, to safely have an abortion.

37
00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:57,519
Speaker 3: For women, losing access to contraceptives and getting pregnant without

38
00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:02,600
Speaker 3: planning can have long term consequences on their education, professional development,

39
00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:07,320
Speaker 3: and economic and psychological well being. Now, if you're wondering

40
00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:11,160
Speaker 3: why we're talking about Venezuela, you have to understand that

41
00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,120
Speaker 3: access to birth control and other reproductive services for women

42
00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:18,919
Speaker 3: in Latin America and around the world have been impacted

43
00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:23,720
Speaker 3: by decisions taken in the US, specifically with something known

44
00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:28,080
Speaker 3: as the Mexico City Policy. That's the Trump administration cutting

45
00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:36,480
Speaker 3: support for nonprofit organizations that provide abortion services abroad. This

46
00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:39,320
Speaker 3: story will also resonate with many women in the United

47
00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:43,760
Speaker 3: States because in this country, birth control options have been

48
00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,560
Speaker 3: reduced in recent years, both at the federal and state levels,

49
00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:51,800
Speaker 3: from limiting access to free contraceptives for low income women

50
00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:59,360
Speaker 3: to states outright banning abortions. Our editor, Marta Martinez, who

51
00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,280
Speaker 3: we heard from in the beginning of this piece, traveled

52
00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:06,480
Speaker 3: to Kukuta on the Colombian border with Venezuela, and she's

53
00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,600
Speaker 3: going to bring us this story that shows how something

54
00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:14,640
Speaker 3: seemingly small and often overlooked, like the lack of contraceptives

55
00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:19,480
Speaker 3: can actually have big and long lasting consequences for women.

56
00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:21,400
Speaker 3: Martha's going to take it from here.

57
00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,440
Speaker 1: I spent hours in the maternity waiting room at Erasmomeo's Hospital.

58
00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:31,040
Speaker 1: It surprised me how quiet the women were. The faces

59
00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,120
Speaker 1: would contort when a contraction kicked in, but no one

60
00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,800
Speaker 1: screamed like they do in the movies. At first, I

61
00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:39,960
Speaker 1: thought it would be easy to talk to Venezuela and

62
00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,040
Speaker 1: pregnant women and learn about their experience crossing the border

63
00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,720
Speaker 1: into Colombia. But when you're nine months pregnant and during

64
00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,720
Speaker 1: contractions and away from home, speaking to a journalist is

65
00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,440
Speaker 1: not a priority. Many were afraid of talking to me,

66
00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,800
Speaker 1: and they didn't want to give their real names. Some

67
00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:02,200
Speaker 1: of them were teenagers. The soon to be mothers were

68
00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:06,960
Speaker 1: here to make sure that their babies and themselves were safe.

69
00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,160
Speaker 1: Most of the women I talked to had not been

70
00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,080
Speaker 1: able to visit a doctor in Venezuela during their pregnancy,

71
00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:14,680
Speaker 1: and for some of them, it was the first time

72
00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:23,680
Speaker 1: they could listen to their baby's heartbeat. I toured the

73
00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,960
Speaker 1: maternity ward with the coordinator of Obstetrics and guy in

74
00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:35,839
Speaker 1: Ecology at the hospital, Doctor Julia Mcheai, so I love it.

75
00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,520
Speaker 1: Doctor Mchheah talked to a young Venezuelan mother whose newborn

76
00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,040
Speaker 1: needed intensive care because the baby was born with syphilis.

77
00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,040
Speaker 1: The lack of condoms in Venezuela has increased the spread

78
00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:55,080
Speaker 1: of sexually transmitted diseases, and doctor Michea says that many

79
00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,640
Speaker 1: of the Venezuelan mothers who arrive in Columbia have STDs,

80
00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,480
Speaker 1: which in some case says are inherited by their babies.

81
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:10,800
Speaker 4: L'sac in the masiatas come in and mu and barrasas

82
00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:17,080
Speaker 4: no controls, plenatales previos and montomniunipm a comentus in toss

83
00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:18,200
Speaker 4: beIN India and we can play.

84
00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:22,679
Speaker 1: Hasaka is a doctor. He explained that because the mothers

85
00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,799
Speaker 1: are seriously malnourished and dehydrated, the babies are often born

86
00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:32,160
Speaker 1: prematurely and need intensive care. Sometimes there's not much they

87
00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,159
Speaker 1: can do, and many of them die before being born

88
00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:37,320
Speaker 1: or don't survive long after.

89
00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:45,000
Speaker 4: Deechtamoto and Tonsisko still come as.

90
00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,920
Speaker 1: Doctor Mihia said that the number of pregnant women arriving

91
00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:55,600
Speaker 1: from Venezuela started growing in twenty sixteen. That year of

92
00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,040
Speaker 1: over four thousand babies born at the hospital, Some two

93
00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,960
Speaker 1: hundred were from Venezuela and mothers. Four years later, that

94
00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:07,560
Speaker 1: number went up to close to five thousand, representing seventy

95
00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:12,440
Speaker 1: five percent of all babies born at the hospital. The

96
00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:17,800
Speaker 1: hospital staff is overwhelmed and exhausted, doctor Mahia said, but

97
00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,200
Speaker 1: they work with love because the patients really need their

98
00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:32,680
Speaker 1: help and this place is their only option. The next day,

99
00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:35,240
Speaker 1: I went back to the hospital to check on Exibel,

100
00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,320
Speaker 1: the Venezuelan with the pink beanie, who was about to

101
00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,720
Speaker 1: give birth to her second child all by herself. She

102
00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,440
Speaker 1: was lying on the bed and under her arm was

103
00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:51,280
Speaker 1: a tiny baby wrapped in a pink towel quintemtafoy me.

104
00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:56,680
Speaker 1: Exibel was tired. Doctors had to perform a c section

105
00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,840
Speaker 1: and the pain kept her up all night. She was

106
00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:03,360
Speaker 1: expecting a boy, but she ended up having a girl,

107
00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:12,840
Speaker 1: so she had to improvise a name Los Marielnina inclusive.

108
00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:20,920
Speaker 2: When Markelbino, her.

109
00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:24,760
Speaker 1: First daughter, Victoria, was back in Venezuela with Exibel's mother

110
00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:27,920
Speaker 1: when she got pregnant the first time. Exibel had just

111
00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:32,360
Speaker 1: started college. Witness to injustice and corruption in her country.

112
00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:34,959
Speaker 1: She always wanted to become a lawyer.

113
00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:44,199
Speaker 2: In malaali Yem Malopos Malaso.

114
00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,880
Speaker 1: But paying for college while covering all the expenses for

115
00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,959
Speaker 1: her newborn became unbearable. She dropped out of school in

116
00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,319
Speaker 1: her second semester. I asked Exibel if she would have

117
00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:55,720
Speaker 1: liked to continue studying.

118
00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:01,720
Speaker 2: The team at Tantin never made a whole Predo went

119
00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:04,160
Speaker 2: and Touya.

120
00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,360
Speaker 1: She said she would have loved to graduate, but now

121
00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,000
Speaker 1: she hoped her daughters would have the chance to study

122
00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:26,520
Speaker 1: and to achieve what she couldn't achieve. When Exibel got

123
00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,199
Speaker 1: pregnant with her first daughter in twenty seventeen, she was

124
00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:34,480
Speaker 1: taking contraceptives, but as the Venezuelan economic crisis deepened, they

125
00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:36,440
Speaker 1: disappeared from pharmacies.

126
00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:41,319
Speaker 5: Fedal moment on they saparistuto patiya to matually.

127
00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:47,400
Speaker 1: In twenty eighteen, between eighty and ninety percent of pharmacies

128
00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,199
Speaker 1: in five major cities did not have contraceptives in stock.

129
00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:54,160
Speaker 1: This is according to a study led by a Visa,

130
00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,559
Speaker 1: one of the country's main sexual and reproductive rights organizations.

131
00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,760
Speaker 1: Mcdemar Leon, active coordinator of a VISA, says the situation

132
00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:07,400
Speaker 1: is still critical. Contraceptive supply has now improved, but nearly

133
00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:11,040
Speaker 1: sixty percent pharmacists continue to report shortages.

134
00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:18,600
Speaker 6: A problem is a costo por quepais don de loprecio

135
00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:23,720
Speaker 6: de tolu tolsus in US facilkeer.

136
00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:28,360
Speaker 1: In Venezuela, the main currency is now the US dollar, which,

137
00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:32,200
Speaker 1: paired with hyperinflation, makes it hard for women to access

138
00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:37,240
Speaker 1: per control. The consequences can be profound, especially for young

139
00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:41,480
Speaker 1: and poor women. In Venezuela, abortion is legal only when

140
00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,520
Speaker 1: the mother's life is at risk, so when a woman

141
00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,720
Speaker 1: seeks to end her pregnancy, she risks both her well

142
00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:52,480
Speaker 1: being and her freedom, and when they do have their babies, ye.

143
00:10:55,760 --> 00:11:04,280
Speaker 6: Affect possibly that continual cost. Conuna Formacion, laal Kunaupacion, Comuna,

144
00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:08,400
Speaker 6: Formacion professional, Cola, Participapublica and.

145
00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:14,320
Speaker 1: FI Macdimar said that having an unplanned child over burdens

146
00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:19,000
Speaker 1: women and reduces their possibilities of continuing their education, getting

147
00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:23,080
Speaker 1: a job, and participating in public life. It's like they're

148
00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,360
Speaker 1: being sentenced to a life of care and reproductive work.

149
00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,280
Speaker 1: Unable to provide for her first daughter, in twenty eighteen,

150
00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,600
Speaker 1: Exibel spent a few months in Brazil with relatives helping

151
00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:42,920
Speaker 1: them run a small restaurants they owned in Sao Paulo,

152
00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:46,280
Speaker 1: but she missed Victoria too much, so she went back home.

153
00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,600
Speaker 1: This time, she brought contraceptives with her. She didn't want

154
00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:54,640
Speaker 1: to get accidentally pregnant again. But after a few months,

155
00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:57,120
Speaker 1: Excibel ran out of the contraceptive she had brought from

156
00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:01,680
Speaker 1: Brazil and got pregnant again from a different partner. Soon after,

157
00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:04,600
Speaker 1: the father of her second child left for Peru looking

158
00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:07,400
Speaker 1: for a job and according to her, has offered no

159
00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:11,480
Speaker 1: economic support for the baby since then. With a collapsed

160
00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:15,079
Speaker 1: healthcare system in Venezuela, Exibel knew she would have to

161
00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:19,120
Speaker 1: migrate again. When she was eight months pregnant, she packed

162
00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,319
Speaker 1: her bags and literally hit the road.

163
00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:36,600
Speaker 2: In Carta porq Ma Magala kin Nokufassi.

164
00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:40,920
Speaker 1: Exibel said she hitch hiked for three days without any

165
00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,200
Speaker 1: money or clear path. She slept wherever she could until

166
00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:51,640
Speaker 1: she made it to the border well Mela stand. Less

167
00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:54,839
Speaker 1: than twenty four hours after giving birth and having a

168
00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,480
Speaker 1: C section, doctors told Exibel that she would have to

169
00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:01,439
Speaker 1: leave the hospital they needed her bed for another mother.

170
00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:13,320
Speaker 1: Seeing her in pain and alone, I offered to drive

171
00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:13,760
Speaker 1: her home.

172
00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:23,599
Speaker 3: Coming up on Latino USA, we take Exibel to the

173
00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:27,520
Speaker 3: border between Colombia and our home country of Venezuela to

174
00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:30,720
Speaker 3: learn more about the drastic measures Venezuela and women are

175
00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:35,240
Speaker 3: taking to avoid unplanned pregnancies, and we learn about the

176
00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:39,320
Speaker 3: surprising and ugly connection this story has to the United States.

177
00:13:39,800 --> 00:14:43,760
Speaker 3: Stay with us, not by us. Hey, we're back and

178
00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,800
Speaker 3: when we left off. Exebel Enriquez, a migrant from Venezuela,

179
00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:51,520
Speaker 3: had to leave a Colombian hospital less than twenty four

180
00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:56,920
Speaker 3: hours after giving birth. It was her second unplanned pregnancy.

181
00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,840
Speaker 3: Marta Martinez is here with the the rest of the story.

182
00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,520
Speaker 1: When Exibel made it down to the hospital lobby, she

183
00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,000
Speaker 1: was sitting in a wheelchair holding her newborn in her arms.

184
00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,800
Speaker 1: Pushing the wheelchair was a young man with dark hair

185
00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:21,800
Speaker 1: and warm brown eyes. Exibel said it was her cousin Romney,

186
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:31,200
Speaker 1: you live near. On her way to the place where

187
00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,240
Speaker 1: she was leaving, we stopped at a pharmacy because the

188
00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:38,400
Speaker 1: hospital didn't give Exibel any painkillers. She was not only

189
00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:41,640
Speaker 1: enduring the pain of her second sea section right after

190
00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,680
Speaker 1: giving birth, she asked the doctors to legate her tubes,

191
00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,320
Speaker 1: even though she was only twenty years old. I asked

192
00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,440
Speaker 1: her why she decided to undergo such as serious practically

193
00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:53,280
Speaker 1: irreversible procedure.

194
00:15:53,440 --> 00:16:08,760
Speaker 5: Aparking em home wayis Komono Latin isil entrapsult.

195
00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:14,120
Speaker 1: And Mahasi Exibel told me that she wants to avoid

196
00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,400
Speaker 1: having more children. If you end up having four or five,

197
00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:19,800
Speaker 1: how will you take care of them? And if their

198
00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:23,080
Speaker 1: dads don't do their part. It's better this way, she says.

199
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,800
Speaker 1: Doctors at Erasmomeo's hospital told me that an increasing number

200
00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:32,200
Speaker 1: of Venezuelan women are asking for tube legations. Profamilia, the

201
00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:36,760
Speaker 1: main reproactive rights organization in Colombia, has also registered a

202
00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:39,880
Speaker 1: spike in the number of bligations that they have performed

203
00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,840
Speaker 1: on Venezuelan and women in recent years. The procedure is

204
00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:48,000
Speaker 1: not uncommon for these migrants. In fact, government data shows

205
00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:51,280
Speaker 1: that tuba legation is actually one of the most used

206
00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:56,160
Speaker 1: birth control methods in Venezuela. While official numbers are scars

207
00:16:56,280 --> 00:17:00,680
Speaker 1: and often unreliable, data from twenty ten show that tube

208
00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:05,320
Speaker 1: aligation was the most used contraceptive method among Venezuela and women,

209
00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:10,000
Speaker 1: more than pills or even condoms. The Venezuelan government has

210
00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,720
Speaker 1: a program that offers free tube valgations, but these procedures

211
00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:16,879
Speaker 1: have become less available in recent years due to the

212
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,280
Speaker 1: lack of resources. Women often get very little information about

213
00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:23,880
Speaker 1: the impact and the consequences of the procedure.

214
00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:32,040
Speaker 6: In context the ning como accept anti concepts often.

215
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,840
Speaker 1: Macdimard says that there is a high demand for tubaligations

216
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,480
Speaker 1: because women don't have other options, and it is also

217
00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:46,720
Speaker 1: tied to a lack of sexual education both for women

218
00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:52,280
Speaker 1: and men. In Colombia, abortions are legal under limited circumstances

219
00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:55,639
Speaker 1: when the fetus is not viable, the pregnancy was a

220
00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:58,800
Speaker 1: result of rape or incest, or when the woman's health

221
00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:03,840
Speaker 1: is at risk. Los Paula Modalis of Profamilia said that

222
00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:07,560
Speaker 1: Venezuelan and women usually argue their health is at risk

223
00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,520
Speaker 1: or sexual abuse when getting an abortion in Colombia, and

224
00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:14,200
Speaker 1: they have seen a significant increase in the number of

225
00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:16,399
Speaker 1: Venezuelan women asking for an abortion.

226
00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:21,720
Speaker 4: They at in demos mohere the various basis pero nawenta

227
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:24,080
Speaker 4: Borcento de la moeres in Venezuelanas.

228
00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,760
Speaker 1: Paula said that ninety percent of their foreign born patients

229
00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,680
Speaker 1: are Venezuelan and most of them seek help with access

230
00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:37,719
Speaker 1: to contraceptives so that they won't get pregnant again. Profamilia

231
00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,200
Speaker 1: is one of hundreds of non profit organizations across the

232
00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,840
Speaker 1: world that southern US funding cut. After the Trump administration

233
00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:49,000
Speaker 1: revived the Mexico City Policy from the Reagan era, also

234
00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:50,600
Speaker 1: known as global Gag Rule.

235
00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,600
Speaker 7: The President issued a memorandum re establishing the Mexico City Policy,

236
00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:57,399
Speaker 7: stating that the United States will end the use of

237
00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:01,919
Speaker 7: taxpayer dollars to fund abortions overseas, along with coercive abortion

238
00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,240
Speaker 7: and sterilation sterilization practices.

239
00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,000
Speaker 8: The Reagan administration institute of the policy in nineteen eighty

240
00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:12,080
Speaker 8: four following a Mexico City conference. It cuts off US

241
00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,960
Speaker 8: government aid for abortion services to groups that provide or

242
00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:17,800
Speaker 8: even mention abortion as an option.

243
00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,600
Speaker 1: The funding cuts forced Profamilia to reduce its services, resulting

244
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,400
Speaker 1: in the end of its sex education program for displaced

245
00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:29,720
Speaker 1: boys and girls both Venezuela and migrants and displaced Colombians,

246
00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:34,320
Speaker 1: affecting some sixty thousand young people. But reduced access to

247
00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:38,159
Speaker 1: reproductive health services is not only a foreign issue.

248
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:43,480
Speaker 9: My administration has proposed a new rule to prohibit Title

249
00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:49,320
Speaker 9: ten funding from going to any clinic that performs couplership.

250
00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:53,960
Speaker 1: The Trump administration parted healthcare providers who receive federal funds

251
00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:58,600
Speaker 1: from performing or referring for abortions under a program known

252
00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:01,840
Speaker 1: as Title ten, implemented in the nineteen seventies.

253
00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:03,920
Speaker 10: They did a lot of research in the nineteen sixties

254
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,080
Speaker 10: and found women were having more babies than they wanted,

255
00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,720
Speaker 10: and it was lower income women typically who just didn't

256
00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:12,879
Speaker 10: have the access to contraception. So Title ten gave women

257
00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,600
Speaker 10: access to condoms talked about IUDs the pill.

258
00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:20,960
Speaker 1: Many healthcare providers, like Planned Parenthood, ended up abandoning the

259
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:25,120
Speaker 1: Title ten program As a consequence. The Kudmacher Institute estimates

260
00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,920
Speaker 1: that the capacity to provide women with contraceptive and other

261
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,800
Speaker 1: reproductive health services fell by at least forty six percent

262
00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:37,480
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen. That is roughly one point six million patients,

263
00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:42,920
Speaker 1: most of them low income women. President Joe Biden has

264
00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,560
Speaker 1: revoked the Global gug Rule and taken steps to restore

265
00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:51,240
Speaker 1: Title ten, but some measures curtailing women's reproductive rights might

266
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:53,040
Speaker 1: take much longer to reverse.

267
00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,720
Speaker 11: The court here handing the Trump administration a significant win,

268
00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:02,360
Speaker 11: allowing the Trump administration to we weaken that contraceptive mandate.

269
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:04,000
Speaker 11: Under the Affordable Care.

270
00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,439
Speaker 10: Act, women will no longer be able to get an

271
00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:07,600
Speaker 10: abortion pill by mail.

272
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:10,480
Speaker 12: The Supreme Court put a requirement back in place that

273
00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,359
Speaker 12: says women must visit a hospital or a clinic in.

274
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:18,080
Speaker 1: Order to get the drug. At the Supreme Court, there

275
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:22,080
Speaker 1: is now a conservative majority, and some recent decisions point

276
00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:26,040
Speaker 1: at women's access to contraceptives and abortion services to get

277
00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:30,840
Speaker 1: more complicated. Last summer, the Court allowed employers to abstain

278
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:34,439
Speaker 1: from covering birth control methods in their health insurance plans

279
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:39,000
Speaker 1: based on religious or moral grounds, and in January, the

280
00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:42,919
Speaker 1: Court required women to obtain the abortion pill in person.

281
00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 1: Despite the social distancing measures in place during the pandemic,

282
00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:51,480
Speaker 1: Since twenty eleven, more than four hundred and fifty provisions

283
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,359
Speaker 1: restricting access to abortion care have been enacted in the US.

284
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:59,199
Speaker 1: The long term consequences for women who can't have an

285
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:03,119
Speaker 1: abortion when seek one are well documented. A five year

286
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:06,760
Speaker 1: study conducted by the University of California in San Francisco

287
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,840
Speaker 1: found that women who could not get an abortion and

288
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:14,440
Speaker 1: ended up having unplanned children were more likely to struggle financially.

289
00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,160
Speaker 1: This is Sarah Miller, one of the researchers who worked

290
00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:19,639
Speaker 1: on the Turnoway study, and.

291
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:23,600
Speaker 13: What we found is that women who were able to

292
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:28,359
Speaker 13: receive the abortion, they didn't experience any particularly big increase

293
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,920
Speaker 13: in financial problems. But the women who were denied the

294
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,840
Speaker 13: abortion did. They saw right around the time they were

295
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:38,320
Speaker 13: denying the abortion a big spike in things like bills

296
00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:42,399
Speaker 13: that they couldn't pay on time, credit scores falling, and

297
00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:47,960
Speaker 13: also more serious financial problems like evictions, bankruptcies and wage

298
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,080
Speaker 13: garnishments and sort of serious financial issues that end up

299
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,320
Speaker 13: in the court system. And these were not short term effacts.

300
00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:56,680
Speaker 13: These were effects that we saw over the entire six

301
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,480
Speaker 13: year period. They didn't show much evidence of going away.

302
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,120
Speaker 1: Those long term consequences were not only economic.

303
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:07,520
Speaker 13: Women who were denied abortions had worse physical health. They

304
00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,560
Speaker 13: had higher rates of chronic illness, things like high blood

305
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:14,920
Speaker 13: pressure and the like. They also had two maternal deaths

306
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,679
Speaker 13: that occurred in the turnaway groups, so there were two

307
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:20,399
Speaker 13: women who died sort of as a direct direct result

308
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:21,359
Speaker 13: of the birth.

309
00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,800
Speaker 1: The study didn't examine race and ethnicity differences across participating women,

310
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,560
Speaker 1: but the researchers highlight that it's important to look at

311
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:32,760
Speaker 1: who seeks an abortion more often.

312
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:36,560
Speaker 13: The majority of women who seek abortions are women of color,

313
00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,240
Speaker 13: so only about a little bit under forty percent of

314
00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,520
Speaker 13: women who seek abortions are white and the rest are

315
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:42,160
Speaker 13: women of color.

316
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 1: Exibel's baby was hungry, but she was not producing milk yet.

317
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,359
Speaker 1: It is common for women who undergo sea sections to

318
00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:13,720
Speaker 1: take longer to produce breast milk. In the car, Exibel

319
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,040
Speaker 1: told me about the first days in Colombia. She said

320
00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:19,440
Speaker 1: she had no money to buy food, so she sold

321
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,680
Speaker 1: her long, straight hair. That's why she was wearing the

322
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,280
Speaker 1: pink beanie that made her stand out when I first

323
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,840
Speaker 1: saw her at the hospital. She was ashamed of her

324
00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:32,040
Speaker 1: short hair. She said she looked like a macho.

325
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:47,320
Speaker 2: Ru indito nadi based on blood.

326
00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,240
Speaker 1: Exibella and her cousin Romney said the people who cut

327
00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,399
Speaker 1: her hair ripped her off. They gave her ten thousand

328
00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,720
Speaker 1: Colombian pistols, which sounded like a lot to Exibel, but

329
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 1: it was less than three US dollars. With the money

330
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,960
Speaker 1: she got from her hair, Exibel and two friends bought

331
00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:07,480
Speaker 1: some cigarettes and they tried to sell them on the street,

332
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,399
Speaker 1: but there were many other Venezuelan migrants doing just the same,

333
00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:13,680
Speaker 1: so they didn't make enough to pay for a place

334
00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:17,240
Speaker 1: to sleep. They ended up sleeping on the street for

335
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:21,280
Speaker 1: the first few nights. As her duete got closer, it

336
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,960
Speaker 1: became too uncomfortable for Exhibel to sleep on the floor,

337
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,560
Speaker 1: and she rented a room with a bed in San

338
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:32,119
Speaker 1: Antonio on the Venezuelan side of the border. Who is

339
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:41,639
Speaker 1: see Enium the baby finally calmed down, she was hungry.

340
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:46,119
Speaker 1: Exibel knows that there are many young Venezuela and women

341
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:49,359
Speaker 1: just like her who didn't plan to get pregnant so early.

342
00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,040
Speaker 1: Who wants to get pregnant on that side of the

343
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:52,880
Speaker 1: border right now?

344
00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:58,800
Speaker 2: She asked Gla Saine Examina.

345
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:15,680
Speaker 1: She said that when you're alone, you can go to

346
00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,760
Speaker 1: the end of the world, but when you have children,

347
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:21,600
Speaker 1: you want to be with them. You have to be

348
00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,639
Speaker 1: with them. Exibel's dream now is having a home for

349
00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:28,400
Speaker 1: her to raise her two daughters and to be close

350
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:52,320
Speaker 1: to Thembel said she was missing a lot of moments

351
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:55,719
Speaker 1: with her older daughter who was back in Venezuela. Her

352
00:26:55,800 --> 00:27:05,920
Speaker 1: daughter was growing up and she was not there with her. Yeah,

353
00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:10,080
Speaker 1: it says. We were approaching Simon Boliver Bridge, the main

354
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:14,320
Speaker 1: crossing point between Colombia and Venezuela on the sides of

355
00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:17,800
Speaker 1: the road. There were young men anxiously scanning the cars

356
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,400
Speaker 1: passing by. They were looking for potential clients, people who

357
00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:26,520
Speaker 1: needed help carrying bags or merchandise across the border. There

358
00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,719
Speaker 1: were so many of them, and competition was so fierce

359
00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,480
Speaker 1: that some men jumped on the cars to make sure

360
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,040
Speaker 1: that they were the first ones ready to unload the trunk.

361
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,440
Speaker 1: I had hoped to accompany Exibel home to make sure

362
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,240
Speaker 1: that she and the baby were okay, but it was

363
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:44,879
Speaker 1: getting dark and it wasn't safe to cross the bridge

364
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,440
Speaker 1: into Venezuela so late. Crime and robberies have spiked in

365
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,840
Speaker 1: recent years in these border areas, and they get worse

366
00:27:52,000 --> 00:28:00,240
Speaker 1: at night. When we got up the car, everything around

367
00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:04,520
Speaker 1: us was loud, the music, the busy crowd, the angry traffic.

368
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:07,720
Speaker 1: Exibel's cousin looks for a wheelchair to rent so that

369
00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:11,080
Speaker 1: she could make it across the bridge. Exibel struggled to

370
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,720
Speaker 1: sit because her c section hurt so much. She looked

371
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:25,600
Speaker 1: so lonely, so lost. I hugged her in It's hard

372
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,119
Speaker 1: to hear with so much noise and loud music around us.

373
00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:32,520
Speaker 1: But while I hugged her, I told Exhibel to take

374
00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:35,960
Speaker 1: care of herself, and that she was very brave and

375
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,880
Speaker 1: very strong. As I watched her disappear in the busy crowd,

376
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:43,240
Speaker 1: I worried about her and how she was going to

377
00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:46,600
Speaker 1: manage with that car and a one day old baby.

378
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,200
Speaker 1: I'm thirty six and I still don't feel ready to

379
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:53,200
Speaker 1: have a child. But I have the ability to choose

380
00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,200
Speaker 1: when to have children or not to have them at all.

381
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,480
Speaker 1: Many women in Venezuela and across the world don't have

382
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:07,560
Speaker 1: that privilege. I also think of the women who accidentally

383
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:11,160
Speaker 1: get pregnant and make the difficult decision to have an abortion.

384
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,440
Speaker 1: Maybe they don't want to drop out of school or

385
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,160
Speaker 1: abandon the career path they have been working so hard

386
00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:21,800
Speaker 1: to build. Unfortunately, these are compromises many women still have

387
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:26,320
Speaker 1: to make when they have children. Here was Exhibil holding

388
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,000
Speaker 1: her second baby in her arms, at twenty years old,

389
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,720
Speaker 1: in a foreign country, twenty four hours after giving birth,

390
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:36,880
Speaker 1: and having taken barely any pain killers, and despite all that,

391
00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:41,800
Speaker 1: she still was optimistic about her future. For days, I

392
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,120
Speaker 1: worried about Exhibel and her baby. What if her c

393
00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,360
Speaker 1: section wouln't got infected, What if she didn't have enough

394
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,360
Speaker 1: milk for Los Marielle, what if the baby got sick.

395
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:55,880
Speaker 1: About a week later, I got a message on WhatsApp.

396
00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,600
Speaker 1: It was a photo of a plump, tanned, and beautiful

397
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,560
Speaker 1: baby wearing a white cotton bone. Dos Mariel was growing

398
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:09,560
Speaker 1: up healthy and Exibel couldn't be prouder. Not long after

399
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,960
Speaker 1: the border closed due to the pandemic, Excibel went back

400
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:14,280
Speaker 1: home to Venezuela.

401
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:29,320
Speaker 3: The pandemic has made access to contraceptives even more difficult

402
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 3: for women around the world. Research from the United Nations

403
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,600
Speaker 3: shows that twelve million women have been affected by birth

404
00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:39,880
Speaker 3: control shortages over the last year, leading to one point

405
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:47,160
Speaker 3: four million unintended pregnancies. In the United States, one in

406
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:51,320
Speaker 3: four women report that because of the pandemic, they now

407
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:53,600
Speaker 3: worry more than they used to about being able to

408
00:30:53,680 --> 00:31:16,880
Speaker 3: afford or even obtain contraceptives. This episode was produced by

409
00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:20,800
Speaker 3: Marta Martinez and edited by Andrea Lopez Grussado. It was

410
00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:25,080
Speaker 3: reported with support from the International Women's Media Foundation. Fact

411
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:28,520
Speaker 3: checking for this episode by Carl Rubin. The Latino USA

412
00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:33,960
Speaker 3: team includes Diel Masis, Julieta Martinelli, Gini Montalbo, Alejandra salasad

413
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:38,160
Speaker 3: Reinaldo Leanos Junior, and Julia Rochan with help from Raoul Prees.

414
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:42,000
Speaker 3: Our engineers are Stephanie Loba, Julia Caruso, and Lia Shaw.

415
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:45,360
Speaker 3: Our digital editor is Louis Luna. Our New York Women's

416
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:49,880
Speaker 3: Foundation Ignite fellow is Mari Esquinka. Our intern is Oscar

417
00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:53,320
Speaker 3: de Leon. Our theme music was composed by Gene Robinos.

418
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:55,560
Speaker 3: If you like the music you heard on this episode,

419
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,680
Speaker 3: stop by Latino Usa dot org and check out our

420
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:02,920
Speaker 3: weekly Spotify play. I'm your host and executive producer Mariao Hoosa.

421
00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:05,520
Speaker 3: Join us again on our next episode. In the meantime,

422
00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:09,320
Speaker 3: I'll see you on social media. Laste Lapproxima Jao.

423
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:15,640
Speaker 12: Funding for Latino USA is coverage of a culture of

424
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:18,320
Speaker 12: health is made possible in part by a grant from

425
00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:23,320
Speaker 12: the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Latino USA is made possible

426
00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:29,040
Speaker 12: in part by the Heising Simon's Foundation. Unlocking Knowledge, opportunity

427
00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:35,280
Speaker 12: and possibilities More at Hsfoundation dot org and the wind

428
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:36,040
Speaker 12: Coat Foundation.

429
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:45,280
Speaker 3: You guys know Scardeleone. He's like like pre eminent SalCo

430
00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:51,400
Speaker 3: from Venezuela. He's like a father of salsa. I'm Maria

431
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:55,200
Speaker 3: no Josa. Next time on Latino USA, I talk with

432
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:59,920
Speaker 3: Rita Indiana, about her new album, her clear Pan Caribbean identity,

433
00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,320
Speaker 3: and why she left the music scene ten years ago.

434
00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,479
Speaker 3: That's next time on Latin USA Serenada, Zerrena

435
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:09,520
Speaker 2: De Sena