Paris: France on Friday officially inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion in its Constitution on the occasion of International Women's Day, sending a powerful message of support for women's rights. This came day after the French parliament overwhelmingly backed a move to enshrine the right of abortion in its constitution, influenced by the US Supreme Court's decision to reverse a crucial ruling that recognised women's constitutional right to abortion.
Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti, in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron, used a 19th-century printing press to seal the amendment in France's constitution at a special public ceremony as applause filled the Place Vendome. Friday's ceremony means the measure to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right can now enter into force.
"Today is not the end of the story but the start of a fight," Macron told the ceremony. "We're going to lead this fight in our continent, in our Europe, where reactionary forces are attacking women's rights before attacking the rights of minorities. This is why I want to enshrine that guaranteed freedom to abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union."
This step may prove difficult, as many European countries have imposed restrictions on women seeking to terminate a pregnancy, and deep divisions over abortion rights remain. Last year, the government of EU member Malta backed down on a bill which would have allowed the abortion of pregnancies when the mother's health was at serious risk. Poland's anti-abortion laws are among the most restrictive in Europe.
What is the amendment in the French Constitution?
The measure was overwhelmingly backed by MPs and senators in the Versailles Palace on Monday, as it was passed by 780 votes against 72 in a special joint by the two houses of the French parliament, a move that has been welcomed by women's rights groups and harshly criticised by anti-abortion groups. "We're sending a message to all women: your body belongs to you and no one can decide for you," Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told lawmakers ahead of the vote.
Monday's vote enshrined in Article 34 of the French constitution that "the law determines the conditions in which a woman has the guaranteed freedom to have recourse to an abortion". The move was proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron as a way to prevent the kind of rollback of abortion rights seen in the United States.
The vote during the special joint session drew a long-standing ovation from the lawmakers, as women’s rights activists hailed the measure. The US decision on the Roe v Wade ruling on abortion had forced the issue of abortion back into the European political landscape at a time when far-right nationalist parties were gaining influence.
Abortion rights are more widely accepted in France than in the United States and many other countries, with polls showing around 80 per cent of French people back the fact that abortion is legal. Women have had a legal right to abortion in France since a 1974 law - which many harshly criticised at the time.
None of France’s major political parties have questioned the right to abortion, including Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party and the conservative Republicans. “We have a moral debt to women,” said Attal, while paying tribute to Simone Veil, a prominent legislator, former health minister and key feminist who in 1975 championed the bill that decriminalised abortion in France.
Can the move be reversed later?
Inscribing abortion into the French Constitution “will make it harder for abortion opponents of the future to challenge these rights, but it won’t prevent them from doing it in the long run, with the right political strategy,” said Mathilde Philip-Gay, a law professor and a specialist in French and American constitutional law. Amending the constitution is a laborious process and a rare event in France. Since it was enacted in 1958, the French Constitution has been amended 17 times.
Macron's critics questioned why he pursued the measure in a country with no obvious threat to abortion rights but where women face a multitude of other problems. While some French women saw the step as a major win, others said that in reality, not every French woman has access to abortion. Additionally, France has a persistently high rate of women killed by their partners and challenges remain in prosecuting sexual abuse against women by powerful celebrities and other men.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, despite voting for the bill, said Macron was using it to score political points, because of the large support for the right to abortion in the country. "We will vote to include it in the Constitution because we have no problem with that," she said, while asserting that it was an exaggeration to call it a historic step as no one is putting the right at risk.
(with inputs from agencies)
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