El Salvador’s Advice on Zika Virus: Don’t Have Babies
SAN SALVADOR — When in human history has an epidemic become so alarming that a nation feels compelled to urge its people not to have children for two years?
Grappling with a mosquito-borne virus linked to brain damage in infants, El Salvador is doing just that, advising all women in the country not to get pregnant until 2018 — the equivalent of a Hail Mary pass that, to many here, only illustrates their government’s desperation.“It’s not up to the government; it’s up to God,” said Vanessa Iraheta, 30, who is seven months pregnant with her second child. “I don’t think the youth will stop having children.”
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The government’s advice to postpone pregnancy for years is a delicate issue in this conservative, religious nation. It would require the ubiquitous use of contraception, which can be complicated in a country that is more than 50 percent Roman Catholic.
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Update: Yes, theses governements are a joke, if only it weren’t so Sad:
Why Latin American Women Can’t Follow the Zika Advice to Avoid Pregnancy
Paula Avila-Guillen, a Colombia-based programs specialist for the Center for Reproductive Rights, called the recommendations “naive” and “irresponsible.” “The government is not issuing any recommendation for the men to use condoms, which is very unfair,” she said. “That makes the women responsible for everything.”
Even if women attempt to follow the recommendations through abstinence, sexual violence is so pervasive throughout the region that many women may get pregnant against their will. And most available data on contraceptive use only surveys married women or women in domestic partnerships, young adolescent girls and rape victims are often not counted, which means the problem could be even bigger than anyone thinks, says Amanda Klasing, a senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. Klasing says that even without reliable data on the unmet need for contraception throughout the region, it’s fair to say that “millions of millions” of women need birth control but don’t have it.