Great news for transmen and transwomen in Brazil: the country’s public health system will now pay for sex reassignment surgery. The change comes after a federal court challenge, and the government has said that it will not appeal the decision.
On Wednesday the 4th Regional Federal Court agreed, saying in its ruling that “from the biomedical perspective, transsexuality can be described as a sexual identity disturbance where individuals need to change their sexual designation or face serious consequences in their lives, including intense suffering, mutilation and suicide.”
The Health Ministry said it would be up to local health officials to decide who qualifies for the surgery and what priority it will be given compared with other operations within the public health system.
Patients must be at least 21 years old and diagnosed as transsexuals with no other personality disorders and must undergo psychological evaluation for at least two years, the ministry said.
Even better, the measure has yet to prompt any opposition. How fucking sweet and next to unbelievable is that?
Now if only Brazil could take a liberal cue from Portugal and decriminalize abortion. The country has opened its first legal abortion clinic. Abortion became legal in Portugal on July 15, up through the 10th week of pregnancy. Of course, that’s still an incredibly narrow law, and it is facing stiff opposition. But it’s also a brave step forward for a very conservative nation, and those who assisted in passing the law deserve a big kudos for standing up for the rights of women amid the criticism.
I say bravo to both countries for the progress.
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Impressive in re both countries. Then there is the US . . .
Wait to see what happens in the next little while when some patients try to avail of this new service in Brazil. That will show the true measure of whether there is any real opposition that could slow things up.
I was in Lisbon when the bill became law. The Portuguese friend I was staying with, threw a big party to celebrate this new freedom that she and all her fellow students could now avail of in the most desperate of situations.
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