“ONE CRISIS IS ALL IT TAKES”: RESTRICTING THE RIGHT OF PREGNANT WOMEN/PARTURIENT WOMEN, THE COMPANION OF THEIR FREE CHOICE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN BRAZIL

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.216322313019

• Palavras-chave: right to companion; gender justice; reproductive justice, intersectionality; obstetric violence.

• Keywords: right to companion; gender justice; reproductive justice, intersectionality; obstetric violence.

• Abstract:

  This article mobilizes reflections on the restriction of the right of pregnant and parturient women to a companion of their free choice during labor, pre-delivery and post-partum during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil, considering the context of measures of exception adopted globally. By distinguishing such acts, based on their democratic nature, or not, the restriction in question fits as an exceptional measure of an anti-democratic nature and violating human rights guaranteed in international diplomas and in Brazilian legislation. Moreover, in view of the concepts of obstetric violence and intersectionality, and in recourse to inter-American jurisprudence, it is reaffirmed the importance of the Judiciary taking ownership of the concepts of gender justice and reproductive justice, in order to guarantee the State's accountability for such violations. Thus, institutional discrimination based on gender and social class is evident, since the restriction in question takes place within the scope of the Unified Health System.