France has enshrined the “guaranteed freedom” for abortion in its constitution, becoming the first country in the world to defend the procedure in such explicit terms.
A meeting of Congress – a joint session of the National Assembly and the Senate – on 4 March approved the step by 780 to 72 votes, easily clearing the two-thirds hurdle (512 votes) for any change to the 1958 constitution. Deputies and senators gave the result a standing ovation.
The text said: “The law determines the conditions under which the freedom guaranteed to a woman to have recourse to a voluntary termination of pregnancy is exercised.”
The result was expected, as both houses of parliament had previously approved the amendment with large majorities. Abortion, legalised in 1975 and mostly paid for by the social security system, enjoys wide public support.
Catholic bishops, representing a minority opposed to abortion, said France “would be honoured by inscribing instead the right of women and their children”.
They called for support for “those who choose to keep their child” and “respect and compassion for those who opt for abortion”.
In another statement, the bishops’ conference said “abortion, which remains an attack on life from the very beginning, cannot be seen solely from the angle of women's rights”. It regretted that legislators “did not mention support measures for those who would like to keep their child”.
The Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life, reacting to the French decision, said “there cannot be a ‘right’ to take a human life”.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal saw it differently. “This is a fundamental step that we can take, a step that will go down in history,” he said.
“We are haunted by the suffering and by the memory of so many women who, for decades, suffered from not being able to be free.”
Several critics of the amendment said it was a reaction to the revocation of abortion rights in the US or Poland, not in France. “We are not the 51st state of the United States,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen said.
However, even conservatives agreed that abortion rights widely accepted today could be vulnerable to future political change.
“Even if this risk is far off, we accept to face it. This is why the vast majority of Republican deputies will vote for this modification of the constitution,” the conservative deputy Olivier Marleix said before the vote.
The 925 deputies and senators met in the Palace of Versailles outside Paris, adding to the glitter of a ceremony. President Emmanuel Macron chose this legislative process over a referendum – such public votes have often developed into unpredictable plebiscites on the ruling government.
Some critics said the phrase “guaranteed freedom” seemed to put abortion rights above other rights protected by the constitution. Supporters of the amendment denied this, saying the “conscience clause” allowing doctors and midwives to opt out of abortions remained.
President Emmanuel Macron is expected to sign the amendment into the constitution on 8 March, International Women’s Day.
Loading ...
