The Senate approved this Wednesday (10) a bill that waives the spouse's approval for voluntary sterilization procedures (tubals for women and vasectomy for men).

Under current law, married men and women need this consent to undergo the tubal ligation procedure. The proposal has already been accepted in the Chamber and will be sanctioned by President Jair Bolsonaro.

If the measure is sanctioned, it will come into force 180 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. The rule change is a request from the Women's Bank and was approved at the same meeting celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Maria da Penha Law.

The proposal also changes the minimum age for carrying out both procedures, lowering it from 25 to 21 years old. The text maintains the other criterion already provided for by law: men and women can be sterilized at any age if they have at least two living children.

The current rule was introduced in 1996 and requires that, where there is a marital union, sterilization is subject to the express consent of both spouses. In other words, the husband must approve his wife's tubal ligation and vice versa.

In her opinion, Senator Nilda Gondim (MDB-PB) notes that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the correct use of contraceptive methods helps prevent health risks associated with unwanted pregnancy, especially in adolescents.

It also helps reduce child mortality, improves access to information on family planning and contributes to sustainable population growth and economic development of countries from a socioeconomic perspective, he wrote in the report.

During the vote on the proposal, senator Guaracy Silveira (Avante-TO) proposed removing the provision from the text, according to him, in the name of family harmony.

There is no way we can preach fragmentation, a wife who is an enemy of her husband and a husband who is an enemy of his wife, children, brothers. The main political function is to promote harmony. So I want us to carry out a review, because if we were asking here for the revocation of article 3 [which prevents spouses from approving the method], we could suffer from unconstitutionality.

The rapporteur responded to the senator that it was up to the woman to choose her contraceptive method.

This very article is all based on a woman's right to decide what she wants, her life. She must tell her partner, husband, but she has the right to choose whether or not to use contraception, said Nilda. She can give notice, she can reach an agreement with her husband about the tubal ligation, but she has the final decision.

Senator Zenaide Maia (PROS-RN) endorsed the rapporteurs' speech and said that any change to this article is contrary to the objective of the project.

In any case, forcing women to have more children, not using contraceptives, not having tubal ligations, distorts the calculation of the right to choose or not to have children, he said.

Another change foreseen in the text is the possibility of tubal ligation being carried out during the confinement period. In this case, the woman must submit the application at least 60 days before giving birth and the relevant medical requirements must be met.

Current legislation prohibits this type of procedure during childbirth or abortion, except in cases of proven need for previous consecutive cesarean sections.

Furthermore, the text establishes a maximum period of 30 days for the availability of all contraceptive methods and techniques through the Unified Health System.

Current legislation already requires the availability of all scientifically recognized methods and techniques of contraception that do not put people's lives and health at risk, such as tubal ligation, which guarantee freedom of choice in family planning, but do not establish a deadline for its availability.

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