(23 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rio de Janeiro – 23 June 2024
1. Aerial of demonstrators walking along Copacabana Beach
2. Aerial of protesters holding banner reading (Portuguese) "Together we are giants"
3. Various of a group of women on stilts dressed as characters from "The Handmaid’s Tale"
4. Various of protesters playing percussion instruments
5. Group of demonstrators walking and holding banners
6. Demonstrators holding banners reading (Portuguese ) "Legal abortion now" and "For women’s lives "
7. Demonstrators walking along Copacabana beach
8. Woman holding sign that reads (Portuguese) "children are not mothers – a woman is not an incubator"
9. Women holding signs that read (Portuguese ) "safe abortion " and "clandestinity kills "
10. Various of demonstrators playing instruments
11. Setup of Neuzi Antunes dos Santos, 65-year-old retiree
12. SOUDBITE (Portuguese) Neuzi Antunes dos Santos, 65-year-old retiree:
"And we are here to show the world that our uterus belongs to us, our body is ours, our state is secular, our country does not have to interfere with women’s bodies, we are here to tell the world this, because women are much, in all nations, disrespected."
13. Protesters walking along Copacabana beach
14. Setup of Clara Saraiva, 37-year-old social worker
15. SOUDBITE (Portuguese) Clara Saraiva, 37-year-old social worker:
"So there are mobilizations across the country saying children are not mothers and rapists are not fathers, why? Because this bill equates abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy with the crime of homicide. Abortion is legal in situations of rape and sexual violence and the majority of those who access this right are girls."
14. Aerial of Copacabana beach with protesters walking
STORYLINE:
Protesters marched along Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday to protest a bill that would further criminalize abortion in Brazil.
The demonstrators carried posters, stickers, and banners in opposition of the bill.
Carnival groups were also present, bringing their support and music to liven up the protest, as is customary in Rio de Janeiro.
Some women dressed in the iconic red cloaks and white bonnets made famous by the TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, set in a patriarchal theocracy.
If passed, the bill would criminalize the termination of a pregnancy after 22 weeks as homicide, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
One criticism is that this would mean that convicted rapists could receive shorter sentences than their victims, which is why the bill’s author is including an increase in the rape penalty to up to 30 years.
Proposed by conservative lawmakers and headed for a vote in the lower house, the bill would also apply to rape cases.
Critics argue that women seeking abortions late in their pregnancies are often victims of child rape, as their pregnancies are typically detected later.
Those in support of the changes in the law point out that in Brazil, minors are not subject to prosecution.
In Brazil, abortion is only legal in cases of rape, if there is a clear risk to the mother’s life or if the fetus is anencephalic.
Currently, outside of these exceptions, the Brazilian penal code imposes between one and three years in prison for women who terminate a pregnancy.
If the bill is approved, the sentence would increase to between six and twenty years when an abortion is performed after 22 weeks.
Experts say late access to abortion reflects inequalities in health care.
AP video by Mario Lobao
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1f7cfc9fd2234c3bab744e7704c12285
