Rio de Janeiro, Oct 12 (EFE). – Anti-abortion marches scheduled for Thursday in Brazil, which organizers said would be the largest in the country’s history, had considerable low turnout, with only a handful of participants in some cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The protests, called by conservative and religious groups to commemorate the Day of Our Lady of the Conception of Aparecida – the country’s patron saint – and Children’s Day, were sparked by a Supreme Court case examining the decriminalization of abortion up to the 12 weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, abortion is banned in Brazil except in cases of rape, when the mother’s life is at risk, and when the fetus is anencephalic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The failure was most evident in Rio de Janeiro, a city with a largely conservative population, where EFE confirmed that only about 30 people showed up at the iconic Copacabana beach designated for the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Salvador, Bahia, the so-called “family march” was more active, bringing together from the early hours hundreds of people wearing white T-shirts, but also green and yellow T-shirts, alluding to a patriotism also with Brazilian flags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same could be seen in Bel\u00e9m, the capital of the Amazonian state of Par\u00e1, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Brasilia, there were no plans to take to the streets for security reasons after the January 8 coup attempt, when thousands of supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro attacked the headquarters of the three powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, a few hundreds of pro-life demonstrators marched peacefully through the streets of the capital with Brazilian flags and chants of God, country, family and freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In S\u00e3o Paulo, on Thursday afternoon, about a hundred people arrived at Paulista Avenue, the main center of concentration of the protests, where people usually gather by the thousands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several people wore white T-shirts with the image of a fetus and phrases such as “Yes to life, no to abortion!”, which also appeared on banners and placards held by participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We say no to abortion or the decriminalization of drugs. At 12 weeks a child’s heart is already beating and they want to kill it,” David de Reis, a municipal leader of the right-wing Liberal Party (PL), told EFE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the square, there was also a number of people with Israeli flags – something that was also seen in other cities – demonstrators took to the march as a tribute to the victims left after attacks by Palestinian Hamas militias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In S\u00e3o Paulo, organizers pointed out that the lack of participation was due to the unexpected strike by subway workers on Thursday, which left several lines in mid-travel. EFE <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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