Reading Notes
March 4, 1998
" Public Servants, Professionals, and
Feminists:
The Politics of Contraceptive Research in Brazil "
by Carmen Barroso and Sonia Correa
THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE STATE
In the past the Brazilian state had failed to become "actively involved in
contraceptive-research policies and regulations at a significant level"
(293). But in January of 1986 Brazilian newspapers reported clinical
trials of Norplant, "the subdermal steroidal contraceptive implant
developed by the Population Council," that had been occuring for a
long time in Brazil (292). Political controversy surrounded the Norplant
research for many reasons, for example funding came mainly from foreign
sources (295). Norplant researchers regularly sent detailed reports to
the ministry. Throughout the research, Norplant worked closely with the
ministry (which was a change from previous policy) bbecause "the approval
of the ministry would be required when permission for commercialization
was sought" (296).
IN THE NEWS
Norplant was widely discussed in the Brazilian press since at least
mid-1984 (296). The first stories portrayed Norplant positively. This
publicity and visibility in the media caused Norplant to undergo close
scrutiny and continued research was blocked (297). Most news was
still favorable, but requests for removal of the contraceptive
skyrocketed.
THE FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF CONTRACEPTIVE-RESEARCH POLICIES
Contemporary Feminists in Brazil highly value a woman's right to
control her own fertility. However, they often critizue the existing
methods of contraception. Furthermore, they took an active role in
opposing projects such as Norplant because they are concerned that the
research community disregards women's perspectives (298).
Research Methods and Ethics
"The first level of the feminist critique refers to the methodological
and ethical aspects of the research procedures" (298). Informed
consent is often difficult to obtain; therefore, it often is not
obtained by the researchers.
Women's Needs and Risks
"A second level of the feminist critique concerns the safety of the
methods beingt tested" (299). Researchers and feminists often
attribute different levels of importance to the contraceptive method's
ability to avoid pregnancy and to the safety of the woman.
Research Priorities
"The third level of the feminist critique of contraceptive research refers
to research priorities and the ideas of scientific rationality" (301).
Furhtermore, the user of contraceptives in research is "thought of as a
rational being who prefers to avoid a pregnancy" (301). The failure rate
of contraceptives is looked at two ways: laboratory and real life.
However, some researchers attempt to eliminate user-failure. This
approach is used with Norplant. Brazilian feminists were concerned with
the difficulties of having Norplant removed which are discussed at the
bottom of page 303.
The article ends with a discussion of the
communication that occured between feminists and researchers. There is
hope that this communication may result in long-term change such as that
which occured with the Brazilian state with Norplant research.
My Critique
This article was not a theoretical article; it focused on what happened
surrounding a clinic tryout of Norplant in Brazil. However, I felt that
certain terms needed clarified. For example, I was confused as to how the
authors were using the term "feminists". The way that they used this term
really bothered me. I can not exactly pinpoint what bothered me the most,
but they used this term to refer to a homogeneous group that defended
women's rights. In this article "feminists" fought the Norplant research
companies, but the article did not tell exactly what happened in the end.
The article only said that the Ministry of Heath "lifted its previous
permission for the clinical
tryout of Norplant" (292). Does this mean that the research company left
Brazil or that they continued their research? Did the company go to other
countries after Brazil? Was the company testing predominantly on poor
women? What happened to the women who had Norplant if the company left
(because it must be removed)? These were questions that I was left
with after reading the article.
Reading Notes by Janice McCabe