Hundreds marched in São Paulo last week protesting the criminalization of abortion and demanding that authorities take steps toward change. Abortion is currently a crime in Brazil, except when the pregnant person’s life is in danger, in cases of rape, and when the fetus has anencephaly, a congenital brain disorder. Yet as many as one in five women in Brazil are estimated to have had an abortion, risking up to three years in prison if they are caught. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Brazilian women risk their health and lives to end their pregnancies. Protestors emphasized the grave consequences of the country’s restrictive laws. “The rich have abortions, the poor die,” one protestor’s sign read. Brazil’s Supreme Court will hold a public hearing in August to discuss the decriminalization of abortion within the first trimester.
– Anna Katz, Communications Intern