“I don’t know if I have the courage”: reproductive choices in times of Zika

Authors

  • Ana Rosa Linde Arias University of Massachusetts Boston, USA
  • Elisa Tristan-Cheever Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA
  • Grace Furtado University of Massachusetts-Boston, USA
  • Eduardo Siqueira University of Massachusetts Boston, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7322/jhgd.150807

Keywords:

women, Zika, reproductive rights, abortion, reproductive choices

Abstract

In this transnational study, we aimed at providing insights into women’s views and attitudes towards their reproductive rights during the Zika epidemic. Women of distinct nationalities and ethnicities were recruited from various locations in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the United States. We conducted semistructured interviews that suggest that participants reproductive decisions were intimately related to personal convictions and cultural beliefs, and their actions and thoughts were embedded in their sociocultural norms. The majority of women interviewed communicated that it takes courage to make the extreme, emotional, and overwhelming decision to have an abortion. The findings of this study suggest that women from different countries and regions, and with different levels of social capital, faced the same conflicts concerning reproductive decisions. Thus, we argue for the importance of considering cultural beliefs and behaviors when implementing health prevention or protection measures to control epidemics. This epidemic may be yet another opportunity for the improvement of women’s health by strengthening culturally sensitive family planning services, and a broad spectrum of public health interventions.

 

Author Biographies

  • Ana Rosa Linde Arias, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA

    The Mauricio Gastón Institute for Community Development and Public Policy

  • Grace Furtado, University of Massachusetts-Boston, USA

    The Mauricio Gastón Institute for Community Development and Public Policy

  • Eduardo Siqueira, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA

    The School for the Environment

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Published

2019-05-06

Issue

Vol. 29 No. 1 (2019)

Section

Artigos Originais

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