Bolivian congressman Néstor Rodríguez wants the State to decide who can have children and who cannot.
His proposal suggests sterilizing homeless women with addiction problems in order to —according to him— prevent children from being born in extreme conditions. At first he said it would be mandatory. Later, after the backlash, he spoke of voluntary contraceptive methods.
Bolivia’s Ombudsman’s Office described it as an affront to human rights: decisions about one’s body, they say, belong solely to each person. Others believe that with 18.000 people experiencing homelessness, the State cannot stand idly by.
Social protection or a violation of rights? Which side are you on?