In Brazil, rape victims who have an abortion face 20 years in prison – twice as much as a rapist.

Abortion is illegal in Brazil, with only three exceptions: endangering the life of the pregnant person, anencephaly of the fetus (a condition in which parts of the skull and brain of the fetus do not develop), and rape. In these cases, women can request an abortion without any time limit.

But a new bill that Brazilian conservatives want to push through would declare all abortions after the 22nd week of pregnancy as murder – and punish them with prison sentences of up to 20 years.

Rape in Brazil is punishable by up to ten years in prison, and serious physical violence can be punished by up to twelve years. Critics say that a victim of sexual abuse who has a late-term abortion can spend twice as long in prison as her tormentor.

When news broke last week that the bill – known as Bill 1904 – had been given emergency status to be debated and voted on in Brazil’s lower house, demonstrators took to the streets in the country’s major cities to protest.

Much of the anger revolves around the fact that the proposed new law would primarily affect victims of rape – and would have a particularly deterrent effect on underage victims.

In 2022, the last year for which official records were released, 75,000 cases of rape were reported in Brazil, the highest number ever recorded – and more than 60% of the victims were children under 13 years old.

Although these children currently have the right to a legal abortion, according to Minister of Women Cida Gonçalves, 38 girls aged 14 or younger give birth every day in Brazil. The new law would likely increase that number.

Although children under 18 cannot be prosecuted in Brazil, the new law would likely further restrict rape victims’ access to abortion services in the country. Brazil has long had enormous barriers to accessing abortion, and the last government, led by far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro, introduced new obstacles.

Since the bill has been granted emergency status, it could be voted on at any time this week. It must then be approved by the Senate and signed by leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has described the proposed punishment as “insane.”

Public outrage, including ongoing demonstrations over the weekend, is putting pressure on Congress. Both the speaker of the lower house, Arthur Lira, and the author of the bill, Sóstenes Cavalcante, said there was no rush to schedule the vote.

Lula’s Workers’ Party initially appeared to make no effort to oppose the law. Their silence encouraged the conservatives. However, after the great public outrage, Lula’s party turned to right-wing MPs to get the law put on hold or the vote postponed.

Below you will find the translation of the proposed legislative changes in the bill. To be clear, this is not an official translation, but a working translation intended to give English-speaking readers insight into how anti-abortion activists use legal strategies to deny women their rights.

BILL NO. 1904, 2024

(By MP Sóstenes Cavalcante)

The National Congress decides:

Art. 2º Article 124 of Legislative Decree no. 2.848 of 7 December 1940 – Penal Code comes into force with the addition of the following paragraphs:

“Article 124 – To cause an abortion oneself or to consent to another person to perform it:

“§ 1 If, in the case of pregnancies of more than 22 weeks, the viability of the fetus is presumed, the penalties shall be imposed in accordance with the offence of simple murder under Article 121 of this Law.”

“§ 2 The judge may, taking into account the special circumstances of the individual case, reduce the sentence or may not impose it if the consequences of the act affect the offender himself so severely that a criminal sanction becomes unnecessary.”

Art. 3º Article 125 of Legislative Decree no. 2,848 of 7 December 1940 – Penal Code comes into force with the addition of the following single paragraph:

“Article 125 – Procuring an abortion without the consent of the pregnant woman:

…………………………………………………………………………………….“

Sole paragraph. If the viability of the fetus is present, which is assumed in pregnancies over 22 weeks, the penalties shall be imposed in accordance with the crime of simple murder under Article 121 of this Law.”

Art. 4º The sole paragraph of Article 126 of Legislative Decree no. 2848 of 7 December 1940 – Penal Code – is renumbered as the first paragraph and the following second paragraph is added:

“Art. 126 ……………………………………………………..“.

“§ 1º ……………………………………………….”

“§ 2. In cases of pregnancies over 22 weeks, when the viability of the fetus is presumed, the penalties shall be those provided for in the offence of simple homicide, as provided for in Article 121 of this Code.”

Art. 5º Article 128 of Legislative Decree no. 2.848 of 7 December 1940 – Penal Code comes into force with the addition of the following single paragraph:

“Article 128 – An abortion performed by a doctor is not punishable:

………………………………………………………………………….“

“Only paragraph. If the pregnancy is the result of rape and the fetus is viable, which is assumed for pregnancies over 22 weeks, the exclusion from criminal liability provided for in this article shall not apply.”

Art. 6º This Law shall enter into force on the day of its publication.

Diana Cariboni lives in Uruguay and started writing for Tracking the Backlash in 2018. Today she is Open Democracy’s Latin America editor and coordinates investigative reporting in the region. Previously, she was co-editor-in-chief of the news agency IPS and headed its Latin America desk for more than a decade. She wrote the book Guantánamo Entre Nosotros (2017) and won Uruguay’s national press award in 2018. Follow her on Twitter (@diana_cariboni). Contact her at [email protected] for tips on new stories from Latin America.

This article originally appeared in Open Democracy – https://www.opendemocracy.net/