Carrying signs, stickers and banners bearing the slogan “a child is not a mother”, protesters chanted slogans against the bill and its supporters.
Last week, the lower house of the Brazilian parliament adopted at first reading a bill that classifies abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy as homicide, even in cases of rape.
Some women donned the iconic red capes and white bonnets made famous by the television adaptation of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel set in a patriarchal theocracy.
Critics say women seeking late-term abortions are mostly child rape victims because their pregnancies tend to be detected later.
Brazil only allows abortion in cases of rape if there is a clear risk to the mother’s life or if the fetus does not have a functioning brain.
Apart from these exceptions, the Brazilian penal code provides for a prison sentence of one to three years for women who terminate a pregnancy.
Some Brazilian women travel abroad to have an abortion.
If the bill is passed, the penalty will be six to 20 years in prison if the abortion is performed after 22 weeks.
Critics have pointed out that this would mean convicted rapists could receive lighter sentences than their victims.
Experts say late-term access to abortion reflects inequities in health care.
