Misoprostol on trial: a descriptive study of the criminalization of an essential medicine in Brazil

Abstract

Misoprostol is a medicine with a “double” social life recorded in several places, including Brazil. Within formal and authorized health facilities, it is an essential medicine, used for life-saving obstetric procedures. On the streets, or in online informal markets, misoprostol is treated as a dangerous drug used to induce illegal abortions. In the Brazilian case, despite a rich anthropological and public health analysis of the social consequences of misoprostol’s double life, there are no studies on the legal implications. This article offers such descriptive analysis, presenting and examining a comprehensive dataset of how Brazilian courts have treated misoprostol in the past three decades. It consists of an encompassing mapping of the “when, where, how, and who” of misoprostol criminalization in Brazil, pointing to the unjust consequences of the use of criminal law for the purpose of protecting public health.

The use of misoprostol in the termination of pregnancy: a review of studies carried

“…The crime of drug traffic corresponded to 9.9% of the cases and smuggling was cited in 6.9% of the cases. The crime of abortion was associated to the medicament in 8.4% of the cases 25 .…”

O uso do misoprostol na interrupção da gestação: revisão de estudos realizados no Brasil

“…O crime de tráfico de drogas cor-respondeu a 9,9% dos casos, e contrabando foi citado em 6,9% deles. O crime de aborto foi associado ao medicamento em 8,4% dos casos 25 .…”