Both chambers of the French Parliament gathered in Versailles on Monday this week, to decide whether the right to abortion should be enshrined in the constitution. There, 780 of the 925 parliamentarians voted for the proposal put forward in 2022 by, among others, Aurore Bergé, France’s new minister for equality. Thus, France becomes the first country in the world to constitutionalize the right to abortion. In advance, Emmanuel Macron’s government and the proposal’s opponents have argued, among other things, that this was unnecessary, because the right to abortion already has great support in the country. – We are not going to include it in the constitution, because we have no problem with it (general support for abortion in France ed. note), right-wing populist Marine Le-Pen said ahead of the vote. A “guaranteed freedom” The decision ensures that abortion is a “guaranteed freedom”, which means that future governments will not be able to make major changes in the legislation surrounding the right to abortion. – We are now sending the message to all women: Your body belongs to you, and no one has the right to control it for you, said Prime Minister Gabriel Attal before the vote took place. The proposal was made as a direct result of the 2022 US Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade decision, which ensured American women the right to abortion.
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Historic abortion law passed in France
