‘I was terrified I was going to die.’ Rape victims in Brazil struggle to access legal abortions

A Brazilian woman who says she became pregnant after being raped in March should have been granted access to a legal abortion

By ELÉONORE HUGHES, Associated Press
June 19, 2025

RIO DE JANEIRO -- A 27-year-old Brazilian woman, who said she became pregnant after being raped in March during Carnival in Brasilia, should have been granted access to a legal abortion. But when she sought to terminate the pregnancy at a hospital around a month later, she was told she needed a police report to access the service, despite it not being a legal requirement.

She decided to abort at home with medication she bought on the black market, with only a few friends on site to help. “I fainted several times because of the pain. I was terrified I was going to die,” she said.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/terrified-die-rape-victims-brazil-struggle-access-legal-123029719

Betrayed by the System in Brazil

Friday 28 February 2025
by L.M. Bonato

While various human rights reports show that annually between one and four million Brazilian women have abortions, the right to women’s bodily autonomy remains a major battle. Currently the law allows abortion only in the case of rape or to save the woman’s life. This means millons of women are forced to seek underground abortions.

Given the rise of conservative parties following Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency, far-right politicians are seeking to roll back legal abortion even in the case of rape. Congressman Sóstenes Cavalcante has introduced Bill PL 190424, which would criminalize abortion under all circumstances after 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Continued: https://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article8874

28.02.2025

Brazil’s Conservative Legislative Branch Looks to Further Outlaw Abortion

New proposed law echoes other anti-abortion legislation in the region.

BY JEFF ABBOTT
JUNE 21, 2024

Religiously inspired political leaders in Brazil have fast-tracked a regressive anti-abortion law in the South American country’s conservative controlled congress.

The law seeks to further criminalize abortions in Brazil, equating abortions after twenty-two weeks with homicide. This would apply in cases where the pregnant person was a victim of rape as well and could result in prison sentences of six to twenty years in prison. The proposed law is a rollback of decades-old protections in Brazil and would result in longer prison sentences than are currently given to people convicted of rape.

Continued: https://progressive.org/latest/brazil%E2%80%99s-conservative-legislative-branch-abbott-20240621/

Brazilian rape victims who have abortions may face longer in jail than rapists

Proposed law would further limit access to abortion for the 75% of reported rape victims in Brazil who are under 18

Diana Cariboni
20 June 2024

Abortion is illegal in Brazil with only three exceptions: risk to the life of the pregnant person, fetus anencephaly (a condition in which parts of the fetus’ skull and brain don’t develop) and rape. In these cases, people can seek an abortion with no time limits.

But a new bill that Brazilian conservatives are attempting to push through seeks to declare all abortions performed after week 22 of the pregnancy as homicide – and punishable with prison terms of up to 20 years.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/brazil-new-anti-abortion-law-homicide-child-rape-victims-prison-longer-abusers/

Brazilian women protest bill that would equate late abortions with homicide

The new law would equate the termination of a pregnancy after 22 weeks with homicide. Critics say it would especially hurt child rape victims, as their pregnancies tend to be detected later.

June 17, 2024
By The Associated Press

SÃO PAULO — Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of São Paulo on Saturday as protests sweep across Brazil in opposition to a bill that would further criminalize abortions. If passed, the law would equate the termination of a pregnancy after 22 weeks with homicide.

…To rally opposition, rights’ groups created the ‘A child is not a mother’ campaign that has flooded social media. Placards, stickers and banners emblazoned with the slogan have abounded during demonstrations. And viral visuals depicting women in red cloaks compare Brazil to Gilead, the theocratic patriarchy Margaret Atwood created in her dystopian novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/brazilian-women-protest-bill-equate-late-abortions-homicide-rcna157578

Protests across Brazil over divisive abortion law

June 14, 2024
By Malu Cursino, BBC News

Thousands of people in Brazil have protested against a proposed nationwide law change which would equate abortion to homicide, even in cases where a pregnancy is the result of rape.

It would mean women who terminate pregnancies after 22 weeks could be jailed for up to 20 years. Brazil's ruling party opposes the move but conservatives in Congress are attempting to push the bill through.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyxx17zeydyo

14.06.2024