In a country that is the world's largest Roman Catholic nation, the government of Brazil announced that it would be adding the "morning after" pill to its birth control program for the poor. The government hopes to shrink unplanned pregnancies among the lower class and keep women from resorting to drastic measures in the conservative country that has banned abortion.

At a discussion held Monday, Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao called the morning-after ill "an important tool for the prevention of unplanned pregnancies" and will allow poor women in Brazil to have the same birth control options as rich women.

Brazil is the most liberal Latin American country when it comes to birth control options; it hands out 254 million free condoms and has handed out the morning-after bill and regular contraceptives at government expense for years.