Vânia (fictitious name), 30, who lives in Greater São Paulo, only found out that her daughter Karen (fictitious name) had been abused by her mother’s husband when she noticed the increase in abdominal volume.
"Mom, there is something moving in my belly," said the girl, who was 14 years old at the time and 29 weeks pregnant.
After filing a police report, they went to the Hospital da Mulher in the capital of São Paulo. There, Karen underwent exams, took the cocktail recommended for cases of sexual violence, but was informed that legal abortions were only performed up to the 20th week of pregnancy.
At the Vila Nova Cachoeirinha Maternity Hospital, she also couldn’t access a legal abortion because the city had suspended the procedures.
Mother and daughter had to travel by bus to Salvador (Bahia) to terminate the pregnancy. It was two days and five hours on the road. The rapist remains at large.
According to the Constitution, there is no restriction on the gestational age of the fetus at the time of the abortion.
But the Anti-Abortion for Rape Bill, which is pending in the Chamber of Deputies, proposes the criminalization of abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy for rape victims.