The Impacts of the Voluntary Sterilization Law on Reproductive Rights of Men and Women

Elza Berquo, Comissao Nacional de Populacao e Desenvolvimento
Suzana M Cavenaghi, Universidade Estadual de Campinas

This paper has the objective of analyzing the impacts and possible changes that the implementation of a new law on family planning has had on reproductive practices, especially sterilization, and to perceive if men's and women's reproductive rights are being fulfilled. The methodological approach is based on a six-month follow up survey taken monthly, applied to a sample of 238 individuals in six contextually different state capitals. Besides verifying if the criteria set by the law are being followed by the health sector, we analyze the waiting time between the request for sterilization and the surgery itself utilizing survival analysis. Moreover, interviews with the health professionals, which are very elucidative of the procedures adopted in the practice of sterilization, are carried out. The results have shown that, for several different reasons, the law has changed little the usual practice of sterilization and yet not satisfying individual's reproductive rights in Brazil.