Zika Virus and Reproductive Health Access in Latin America (Catherine Powell, CFR)

In response to the rapid spread of the Zika virus and the increasing number of cases linking the virus to microcephaly—a birth defect frequently characterized by a small head and incomplete brain development—some Latin American and Caribbean governments are urging women to delay having children. In El Salvador, for example, the deputy health minister made headlines when he urged women to refrain from becoming pregnant until 2018. Yet throughout the region, women’s reproductive rights and access to health care are limited, and in 2014, more than half of the region’s pregnancies were unplanned. For instance, in El Salvador—which has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Latin America—one in three babies are born to girls between the ages of ten and nineteen, often as a result of unplanned pregnancies. These factors make calling for women to hold off on getting pregnant an impractical solution at best.

http://blogs.cfr.org/women-around-the-world/2016/02/08/zika-virus-and-reproductive-health-access-in-latin-america/