The intensity of the Zika virus affecting the Latin American region has prodded the UN to suggest access to contraception as well as the choice of abortion in the region. According to ENCA, a research institute in Brazil recently made a discovery that the Zika virus is not only transmitted through mosquito bites, but also present in the urine and saliva.

While many countries in the Latin American region has adopted the "delayed pregnancy" practice, UN human rights spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly said, "How can they ask these women not to become pregnant, but not offer the possibility to stop their pregnancies?"

The UN prodding also came after they issued warning that the Zika virus is in fact prone to be transmitted by kissing or sexual contact. In Brazil, the number of babies born with significantly small heads and brains has reached 404, and another 3,670 are suspected to suffer the same fate.

Brazilian scientists, on the other hand, have been wary about the exact relationship of the Zika virus and its apparent presence in urine and saliva, but they initially implied that people should be more careful as a precaution. Paulo Gadelha of the Fiocruz institute in Rio de Janeiro said, "The measures are the classic ones used... for various other diseases that can be transmitted by saliva. Avoid sharing glasses and silverware or contact with someone who has symptoms of a possible infection. Don't kiss, obviously."

In a previous report by the New York Times, a judge in Brazil has expressed his approval of women's right to abort their child if they get infected by the virus. Doctors were even subject to a predicament wherein they're unable to suggest whether pregnant women should abort their children or not once they discovered they have been infected by the disease.

In Sao Paulo, infectious disease specialist Artur Timerman said, "They come to my office and ask, 'Is there a chance for my baby to have microcephaly?'" He said he felt compelled to tell them the truth, that there is indeed a risk for the baby to suffer microcephaly. Moreover, he wasn't able to answer the question on the risk of getting it. He added that at least two patients who went to him for advice came back to let him know that they went through abortion.

Brazil is one of the Latin American countries that prohibit abortion and have strict punishment for those who commit it.