This Thursday (10) Congress overturned President Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) veto on the policy of distributing tampons to vulnerable women and low-income students.
The overthrow came two days after the president signed a decree that provides for the free distribution of sanitary pads, in an attempt to lessen his rejection of women, in the year he will seek reelection.
In the Chamber, the veto was rejected by 426 to 25. In the Senate, the score was 64 to 1. The overturning of the veto only occurs by decision of the absolute majority of deputies (at least 257) and senators (at least 41). When there is no such minimum quorum in one of the Houses, the veto is maintained.
Even with the decree, Congress maintained its decision to reject Bolsonaro’s veto. One of the reasons mentioned was the greater scope of the law, which, in the opinion of parliamentarians, would cover at least three million more women than the measure edited by the Chief Executive.
“The overthrow of this veto was part of a great articulation within Congress”, said, in a note, one of the authors of the project, deputy Marília Arraes (PT-PE). “It was a victory for Brazilian women, who will have more dignity from now on. Our fight continues. Now we demand the immediate regulation and the effective start of the program”.
The deputy called Bolsonaro’s decree a voter vote. “It mentions programs, advertising, but it doesn’t say exactly which women will benefit, it doesn’t say where the resource will come from, but it says the program won’t exist if it doesn’t have resources. In other words, it doesn’t say anything,” he said.
In October, the House and Senate approved a bill, authored by 35 deputies, creating the Program for the Protection and Promotion of Menstrual Health.
The bill envisages as beneficiaries of the program low-income students from public schools, women on the streets or in extreme social vulnerability, women apprehended and inmates and women hospitalized in units to comply with socio-educational measures.
According to the authors, the program will benefit about 5.6 million women. The estimated fiscal impact was R$ 84.5 million per year, resources that would come from the SUS (Unified Health System) and from the penitentiary fund, in the case of inmates.
Bolsonaro sanctioned the proposal, but vetoed its main measure: the distribution of sanitary pads to low-income and vulnerable women.
By vetoing the program, the federal government argued that the proposal was against the public interest, “since there is no compatibility with the autonomy of networks and educational establishments. Furthermore, it does not indicate the source of funding or compensatory measure, in violation of the provisions “, states the justification for the veto.
In live shortly after vetoing the measure, the president mocked the reaction to his decision. “We’ll turn around and we’ll extend the ‘Modess aid’ —is that right, ‘Modess aid’, absorbent?— to everyone,” said the President, referring to the product’s brand.
“If Congress overrides the veto —I’m hoping it overturns—, I’ll get sanitary pads. Because it won’t be free, folks. They calculated a little over R$100 million here. You can be sure, they’ll multiply that by three, I’m going to have to get R$ 300 million from somewhere. I’m not going to create a tax to supply that, or increase the tax. I’m going to take it from somewhere. Now the press will hit me that ‘[Bolsonaro] cut from Health, Education’, [mas] won’t say where it went. It will be to meet the overthrow of the veto of absorbents “.
Last Tuesday (8), in a ceremony to honor Women’s Day at Palácio do Planalto, Bolsonaro edited the decree providing for the free distribution of sanitary pads.
At the event, Bolsonaro said that women are “practically integrated” into society. “My mother was also an entrepreneur. Back in my day, it’s history, or the woman was a teacher or a housewife, hardly a woman did anything other than that. Back in the 1950s, 1960s. Today women are practically integrated into the society. We help them. We are always by her side. We can no longer live without her,” he said.
The text says that the objective is to combat menstrual precariousness, that is, the lack of access to hygiene products and other items needed during menstruation or the lack of resources that allow their acquisition.
In addition, it provides for the guarantee of basic health care and the development of means for the inclusion of women in actions and programs to protect menstrual health.
According to the decree, it will be up to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security to implement projects, programs and actions aimed at providing sanitary pads for prisoners. The MEC (Ministry of Education) should promote, in collaboration with states and municipalities, an information campaign in public schools on menstrual health and its consequences for women’s health.
The decree establishes that the implementation of the Menstrual Health Protection and Promotion Program will be subject to budgetary and financial availability.
On Tuesday, the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, and the Secretary of Primary Care, Raphael Câmara, told journalists that the decree would include a forecast of R$ 130 million from the Ministry of Health’s budget, and would cover 3.6 million women. .
Survey of sheet showed that only two capitals, São Paulo and Curitiba, in addition to the Federal District, carry out the distribution of sanitary pads to the homeless population.
The rest of the capitals carry out the distribution only in reception centers or else they do not even have policies related to the problem of menstrual poverty. There are still three capitals, Boa Vista, Natal and Porto Velho, which have an approved project, but which is not yet in effect.
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