"Brazilian Women's Groups Outraged That Abortion Sentences Are Harsher Than Those for Rapists"

Abortion After 22 Weeks of Pregnancy Classified as Murder Crime

In Brazil, there has been growing backlash against a bill that equates abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy with murder. As a Catholic country, Brazil strictly prohibits abortion.

'Opposition to Abortion Criminalization' Protest in Brazil
Photo by AP Yonhap News

On the 15th (local time), Brazilian media outlet G1 reported that "the bill classifies abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy as murder, which could result in harsher sentences than those for sexual offenders," and noted that major women's rights groups and citizens in Brazil held street protests against the criminalization of abortion on Paulista Avenue in downtown S?o Paulo.

Protesters carried placards with slogans such as "A girl is not a mother" and "A rapist is not a father," demanding the legislature repeal the amendments to the criminal code. For example, local human rights organizations explained that even if a woman learns she is pregnant after 22 weeks following sexual assault, abortion is considered illegal.

On the 13th, the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies fast-tracked the bill proposed by Sostenes Cavalcante, a member of the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party is the party of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazilian President Luiz In?cio Lula da Silva, who was visiting Italy to attend the Group of Seven (G7) summit, also strongly condemned the bill as "insane." According to G1, the Chamber of Deputies, currently controlled by an opposition majority, has suspended related discussions considering the backlash both online and offline.

Brazil only permits abortion in cases of sexual assault, when the pregnant woman's health is at serious risk, or when the fetus is not developing normally or has malformations of the brain and skull.

Previously, in 2022, an 11-year-old girl in Brazil who became pregnant after being sexually assaulted attempted to have an abortion but was nearly prevented from doing so by a judge who cited that the pregnancy had exceeded 22 weeks. As the controversy grew, there were calls for the dismissal of the judge who blocked the girl's abortion, and the girl eventually underwent the abortion procedure at 29 weeks of pregnancy.