06/15/2024 – 17:40
This Saturday afternoon (15), Avenida Paulista was the scene of yet another act against Bill (PL) 1,904/24, which equates abortion of a pregnancy over 22 weeks with homicide. It was the second act of protest held this week in the capital of São Paulo against the project which is being processed urgently in the Chamber of Deputies.
By law, abortion, or termination of pregnancy, is permitted and guaranteed in Brazil in cases where the pregnancy resulted from the rape of the woman, represents a risk to the mother’s life and also in situations of anencephalic babies, without establishing a maximum duration of pregnancy. pregnancy for abortion.
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However, the bill that was voted for be processed urgently last Wednesday (12) in the Chamber of Deputies, intends to set the maximum period for legal abortions at 22 weeks of gestation and increase the maximum sentence for those who undergo the procedure from 10 to 20 years.
“We mobilized this act again. We thought it was essential that we return here on Avenida Paulista on Saturday to show that the project is absurd. Until this project is shelved, feminists will not leave the streets”, said Ana Luiza Trancoso, who is part of Coletivo Juntas and the State Front for the Legalization of Abortion.
For the protesters, if approved, the bill will mainly affect children who are victims of rape, whose cases of abuse and pregnancies take time to be identified, resulting in late seeking of legal abortion services. According to the Public Security Forum, 74,930 people were raped in Brazil in 2022. Of this total, 61.4% were children up to 13 years old.
“The main victims are girls aged 10 to 14. This violence happens at home. The child is not aware of his body. You don’t know what it’s like to be pregnant. Therefore, there is the late discovery [da gravidez]. Furthermore, we know that legal abortion services always pose barriers. It wasn’t just one or two cases where girls had to change cities or states to have an abortion. And when they arrive, they are under pressure [para não abortar] and then weeks go by”, said Ana Luiza.
One of the participants in the event on Avenida Paulista was teacher Ana Paula Fernandes de Souza, 43 years old. “I am in action because I think it is extremely important to try to stop this bill. As a woman, I feel offended by all of this that has been happening. And this is just the beginning of many other worse things that could come,” she told Brazil Agency.
For the teacher, children and peripheral women will be the biggest victims of this project. “In fact, women as a whole [é vítima do projeto]. But there is a portion there that will pay much more for this whole situation,” he added.
The demonstration on Avenida Paulista was also attended by many men. “I have examples of sexual abuse in my family. Nieces who suffered abuse,” said René de Barros, 61, a retired teacher. “There is no way to stay away from this. In fact, I suggest that marches be held in the neighborhoods. This Lira [Arthur Lira, presidente da Câmara dos Deputados] you have to get out. He is not the enemy of women and children. He is an enemy of Brazil,” he stated.
For the professor, men also need to reinforce their participation in acts like this. “These women and children have families, and families are affected too. We cannot be hypocrites”, he emphasized.
In a statement, the Brazilian Bar Association São Paulo Section (OAB-SP) expresses “deep concern” with the project. “Firstly, the project establishes stricter limits on the termination of pregnancy resulting from rape, restricting it until the 21st week. This change imposes a significant barrier for girls and women who have been raped, often forcing them to carry their pregnancies to term, which can be considered cruel and degrading treatment”, says the OAB note. “Furthermore, this prediction ignores the reality of many Brazilian women who suffer rape and face a long road to obtain a legal abortion, often exceeding 22 weeks”, adds the text.
For the OAB-SP, the severe criminalization of abortion “does not reduce its occurrence, but pushes girls and women, especially the poorest, into unsafe clandestine procedures that pose a high risk to their lives, deepening social discrimination.”
Lula
Earlier, during the G7 Summit, which brings together the richest countries in the world, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spoke against the project.
“I, Luiz Inácio, am against abortion. But, as abortion is a reality, we need to treat it as a public health issue. I think it is insanity for someone to want to punish a woman with a greater sentence than the criminal who committed the rape”, he declared, at a press conference in the Puglia region, in Italy.
For Ana Luiza Trancoso, President Lula’s speech was important, but it needs to be more incisive. “He needs to be a little more emphatic. He needs to have a firmer position”, said Ana Luiza.
Undersigned
During the event on Avenida Paulista, the protesters collected signatures from people against Bill 1,904/24. “It’s a petition asking for this project to be shelved. This is the only way for us to leave the streets”, stated the representative of Coletivo Juntas.
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