06/15/2024 – 18:22
Thousands of people gathered in front of the São Paulo Museum of Art (Masp), on Avenida Paulista, from 3pm this Saturday, 15th, to protest against the bill that equates legal abortion with the crime of homicide when the procedure It is done after 22 weeks of gestation. The project underwent urgent processing approved by the Chamber of Deputies this week. The act closed all lanes of the avenue towards Consolação at Masp for three blocks.
Among the main targets of the demonstration were federal deputy Sóstenes Cavalcante (PL-RJ), author of the PL, and Arthur Lira (PP-AL), president of the Chamber, responsible for conducting the vote on the urgent procedure, which took place in just 23 seconds. The main slogans chanted by the protesters were “Children are not mothers” and “Rapists are not fathers”.
Experts have declared that, if the bill is approved, the main victims will be poor girls who suffer abuse from family members or acquaintances and take a long time to discover they are pregnant and be able to access a legal termination service – they would be forced to maintain their pregnancy if they sought the service after 22 weeks of gestation.
The demonstration, which started heading towards Consolação at around 4:15 pm, did not have an electric trio. The organizers pulled off the act using microphones and with the help of drumming. In addition to repetitions of the slogans on the posters, there were recurring shouts of “Fora, Lira” and “No to PL 1904”. Shortly before 5pm, protesters began to walk down Rua Augusta.
In Brazil, abortion is permitted in three situations: pregnancy resulting from rape, risk to the woman’s life or fetal anencephaly. The bill proposes to amend the Penal Code and establishes a sentence of 6 to 20 years in prison for women who terminate a pregnancy of more than 22 weeks, even in cases where the procedure is permitted.
In addition to the lanes towards Consolação, protesters began to occupy, around 4 pm, two of the four lanes towards Paraíso on Avenida Paulista.
The movement caused disagreement with some drivers. In a case witnessed by the report, a protester even kicked one of the cars after an argument. Despite the small disagreement, the general atmosphere of the demonstration remained calm.
At that first moment, there was no presence of military police or agents from the Traffic Engineering Company (CET) controlling cars. Police officers only started setting up security cordons about ten minutes after the chaos. Protesters called for the closure of both directions on Paulista.
Other cities also have events planned for this weekend. A demonstration should be held at the end of this Saturday at Cinelândia, in Rio de Janeiro. Capitals such as Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Natal and João Pessoa are also protesting.
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