Imagine if women in America didn't have the right to choose to have an abortion? It would just cause a ruckus. Women would be getting abortions illegally and it would be very unsafe. Women would protest against it. Women in Brazil don't have the right to freely have an abortion. Women only can have an abortion if there lives are at risk or if they have been raped. Brazil has been in a difficult situation because of the Zika virus. The Zika virus can cause babies to be born with a neurological syndrome. Debora Diniz writes an article called "The Zika Virus and the Right to Choose," where she talks about how women should have the right to choose in Brazil because of the Zika virus. One can get the Zika virus from being bit by an infected mosquito. If one is bit while pregnant, the baby could end up with a brain birth defect called microcephaly. Microcephaly is when a baby's head is smaller than normal babies and it can cause brain damage.  Diniz states that there are "more than 4,000 suspected cases of babies born with a neurological syndrome associated with the Zika virus" (Diniz).  She builds her credibility with many reputable sources, citing convincing facts and statistics, and fully utilizes logos.

 Diniz uses a lot of factual evidence to support her argument that women in Brazil should be able to freely have abortions. By using a lot of factual evidence she makes her article sound very logical and well researched. She starts her argument by stating that where she lives in a richer part of Brazil there has not been one case of Zika affecting a baby. This means that most affected babies are in rural areas where the women work outside from dawn until dusk. The poorer women also don't know a lot about sexual and reproductive health care. Diniz talks about how the government is approaching the situation and they said "The Health Ministry has suggested that women avoid pregnancy until the epidemic has passed or more is known about it" (Diniz). Diniz argues against this by saying how unfair it is to tell women to avoid pregnancy without telling them how to avoid it or giving them the contraceptives they cant afford. She makes it very clear that women should be able to get an abortion or the government should offer education on ways to prevent getting pregnancy.

 Diniz also uses a lot of statistical evidence to support her claim. For instance, she said "In 2010, I conducted a national survey that found that by age 40, one in five Brazilian women had at least one abortion" (Diniz). This means that if these women are having abortions then they are doing it illegally and usually not safely. Then Diniz goes on to say that the amount of women who should be in jail due to illegal abortions is over 5 million. The statistical evidence really makes the reader think about how women in these rural areas should have the right to have an abortion. 

Women whose children are born with these birth defects have to suffer and go through a lot. Diniz makes this very clear and states what happens to women when they have children born with birth defects. Diniz states "news reports have included accounts of women being abandoned by their partners after the birth of a baby with neurological problems" (Diniz). If women's husband are abandoning them when they need their husbands to support them then abortion should definitely be an option. It isn't fair for these women and to have to take care with a mentally ill baby when they have other children to take care of. It also isn't fair to the child. Diniz makes it very clear that Health ministries need to help out these women in need.

Diniz also uses pathos and ethos to convince the reader of her claim. Diniz is a woman in Brazil who knows what women are going through because some of her friends were scared of having children. Diniz has also founded the organization Anis  --  Institute of Bioethics which is a political and academic mechanism for research involving moral conflicts arising from health issues. Diniz says that Anis is preparing to present a case study on Zika virus and women's rights to the Supreme Court. Diniz talks about how children are abandoned if they have neurological problems. This is an appeal to pathos because it makes the reader sad and want to help prevent abandoning mentally ill children. She also talks about what happens to women who end up taking care of these children. It is very sad. 

Though Diniz's use of logos is convincing, she starts her argument off not convincing me that women truly need this right to have abortions freely. She talks about her friends wanting to have children but worrying. "In our well-to-do neighborhood in Brasilia, the capital, there has not been a single case of a baby with the birth defects associated with the Zika epidemic" (Diniz). If she is trying to argue that women should be able to have the right to have an abortion due to Zika virus, then starting out by saying she hasn't heard of any cases around her doesn't help her argument. Diniz should've started her argument with a very strong opening and hook, which she didn't. Throughout the essay she is really convincing of the fact that women need to be able to have legal abortions.

Diniz's strong use of logos draws the reader in. I really started to understand what these women went through when she used all of her statistical and factual evidence. Diniz caught my attention from the start when she talked about how many women have babies who are born mentally ill because of the Zika virus. Diniz also made me feel bad for these women who cant have abortions. These women need to be educated on how to prevent from getting pregnant. The government needs to either make abortion legal or educate and provide women with contraceptives.
