Raquel Lyra Apologizes After Video Shows Her Urging Sterilization ‘Without Her Knowing’

Overview

• The video, published Sept. 20, 2026 by Metrópoles and confirmed by multiple outlets, was recorded in May 2025 at the inauguration of an ICU in Garanhuns and shows Governor Raquel Lyra saying a woman should be put on a laqueadura list and "mas faz sem ela saber" ("do it without her knowing").
• Lyra posted a public apology and her campaign called the remark "infeliz," with the governor saying the line was "equivocated" and stressing her support for women's access to family planning.
• Reporters asked Hospital Regional Dom Moura and the Pernambuco State Health Secretariat whether the woman in the clip is a staff member or patient and whether a laqueadura was performed, but the outlets reported no response by their last updates.
• Laqueadura is an irreversible sterilization; recent changes to Brazil's family-planning rules set age and child-count conditions, removed spousal authorization, and require a written consent plus a 60-day waiting period before surgery, making nonconsensual procedures legally and ethically serious.
• The disclosure adds a new controversy to a tight Pernambuco governor's race, with recent Datafolha polling showing Lyra ahead by about five points, and it may intensify scrutiny of candidates' records on health and women's rights as the campaign continues.