WOMEN rallied in Sao Paulo and other Brazilian cities on Saturday to oppose a law that would treat abortions after over 22 weeks’ pregnancy as homicide cases.

Opponents call the law, proposed by Liberal Party MP Sostenes Cavalcanti, the “rapists’ Bill” because they say pregnancies resulting from child rape are often noticed after this date.

Under the slogan “a child is not a mother,” feminist and socialist groups have flooded social media and mobilised street protests. Sao Paulo saw the biggest weekend protest, with an estimated 10,000 marching.

Sixty-five-year-old marcher Marli Gavioli told reporters she had not joined protests since the 1980s against the military dictatorship, but “I couldn’t stay out of this. We are being whipped from all sides, us women. It’s past time to do something.”

The Communist Party of Brazil urged its supporters to “take to the streets against the rapists’ Bill ... in defence of the lives and dignity of women and girls who are victims of violence.” It pointed out that of 75,000 rapes that took place in Brazil in 2022, six in 10 were of girls under 14.

Abortion is illegal in Brazil already, with prison terms of between one and three years for terminating a pregnancy. Rape victims may abort a foetus if it has no functioning brain or if there is a risk to the mother’s life.

The new legislation would increase penalties to jail terms of up to 20 years for abortions after 22 weeks, which critics say would mean convicted rapists serving less time than their victims.