Outraged Brazilian women stage protests against bill to equate late abortions with homicide

SAO PAULO -- Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the capital 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.The bill, proposed by conservative lawmakers and heading for a vote in the lower house, would also apply in cases of rape.

Critics say those who seek an abortion so late are mostly child rape victims, as their pregnancies tend to be detected later.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.”About 10,000 people, mostly women, filled several blocks of Sao Paulo’s main boulevard on Saturday afternoon, organizers estimated.It was the biggest demonstration yet, following events in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Florianopolis, Recife, Manaus, and other cities.

Many wore green clothes and scarves, a common sight in women’s rights mobilizations across Latin America.Marli Gavioli, 65, has mostly refrained from protesting since demonstrations in the 1980s that called for the end of the military dictatorship, but she told The Associated Press she's too outraged to remain home.“I couldn’t stay out of this, or I would regret it too much.

We are being whipped from all sides, us women.It’s past time we do something,” she said.Brazil only permits abortion in cases of rape if there is an evident risk to the mother’s life or if the fetus has no functioning brain.

Aside from those exceptions, Brazil’s penal code imposes between one and three years jail time for women who end a pregnancy.Some Brazilian women fly abroad in order to obtain abortions.

If the bill b...