French lawmakers voted on Monday to enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in the constitution, as the country aims to lead the global fight against attempts to strip away hard-won reproductive rights.
An extraordinary parliamentary assembly of the National Assembly and Senate, held at the Palace of Versailles, easily passed the three-fifths majority required to amend Article 34 of the French constitution by 780 votes to 72 to “guarantee women’s freedom to obtain an abortion”.
The measure does not change French law, but it does make it harder for future governments to roll back reproductive rights. A November 2022 survey showed that 86% of French people support enshrining the right to abortion in the constitution, but the right is under pressure, with 130 abortion centers closing in the past 15 years.
Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and recognized the right to abortion. Last year, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to make abortion, legal in France since 1975, a constitutional right.
Abortion has become an increasingly thorny issue around the world, with conservative right-wing parties using it to drum up support against what they see as a tolerant modern society.
Alice Ackermann of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) said: “We say this is why we need to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution: to protect abortion rights as much as possible because we see conservatives and the rise of far-right movements.” ).
“We know that if they are elected, women’s rights, and abortion in particular, will be the first to be attacked. Abortion is their first target: women will no longer have any agency over their own bodies. If they become pregnant, they will be forced to either Continue the pregnancy or terminate it in a very unsafe manner.”
About 95% of Europeans live in countries that allow some abortions, with 39 European countries legalizing abortion on request. Six countries have strict restrictions, but only three (Andorra, Malta and San Marino) do not allow abortion at all. Poland has begun imposing tight restrictions in recent years, although its new centrist government this year announced a draft law that would ease abortion rights.
Neil Datta, executive director of the European Parliament’s Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, said some moves to restrict abortion are driven by religion. “France is a Catholic country, but at the same time, it is also a country that has historically considered itself a pioneer in human rights,” he said.
“Another factor is the very real fear that far-right populists might one day actually take power in France. So how do you protect yourself and your human rights if that happens? What’s happening in the United States is shocking, It made people stand up and realize that even in very well-established democracies, human rights can suffer such setbacks. The French felt that this was not something they wanted to see.”
Of the 15 European countries and territories that restrict abortion, there are three Crown Dependencies: the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey, but they have begun improving access to abortion and changing their laws, in part because Ireland moved in that direction in 2018 .
“Until recently, their laws were very outdated,” Mr. Datta said.
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