Women furious over vote to ban abortion

Thousands of women marched through Rio de Janeiro to protest against a recent vote to make abortion illegal, without exception, in Brazil.

Many protesters carried their children and shouted: “Our bodies are ours!”

Some scuffles broke out between protesters and police when the march reached the state legislature. Police fired tear gas but calm soon returned.

Abortion is currently allowed in Brazil in cases of rape, a pregnancy that threatens a woman’s life or a foetus with anencephaly, a birth defect of the brain.

But the congressional committee last week adopted a measure that would remove those exceptions, provoking widespread outrage even though many Brazilians hold conservative views on abortion.

The measure is part of a constitutional amendment so it would need a large majority in both Congress’ lower house and the Senate to become law.

The demonstration was one of several around Brazil.