How Brazilian Women Turned an Ulcer Pill Into a Safe Abortion Method

About this episode

The episode discusses how Brazilian women discovered a method for safe at-home abortions in the 1980s, impacting access to abortion globally.

This week, we’re presenting the first episode of “The Network,” a series that Latino USA co-produced with NPR’s Embedded. In the mid-1980s, an OBGYN in Brazil noticed that far fewer pregnant women at his hospital were dying from abortion complications. It wasn’t a coincidence. Brazilian women had made a discovery that allowed them to safely have abortions at home, despite the country’s abortion restrictions. That discovery eventually spread across the globe and transformed access to abortion for millions of women, including women now in the United States. Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa. Follow the show to get every episode. Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for exclusive episodes, sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes chisme on Latino USA and all our podcasts. Follow us on  TikTok  and  YouTube . Subscribe to our  newsletter .   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Maria Hinojosa

Topics covered

• abortion
• Brazil
• women's health
• medical discovery
• reproductive rights

Keywords

• abortion
• Brazil
• women's health
• medical discovery
• reproductive rights
• 1980s
• safe abortion

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Latino USA, NPR

Places: Brazil, United States

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