France has become the first country in the world to make abortion a constitutional right.
A Femen protester holds a palcard reading ‘Futur is feminist’ as they take part in a demonstration at the call of “On Arrete Toutes”.(Photo by THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)
In a joint session on Monday March 4, lawmakers from both houses of parliament overwhelmingly voted to approve the change.
Pancarte “Pas tes ovules, pas tes oignons” lors de la manifestation à l’occasion de la journée internationale de lutte pour les droits des femmes le 8 mars 2023 à Bordeaux.
Abortion has been legal in France since 1975, but now it is a “guaranteed freedom” under the constitution.
Demonstrators demanding the inclusion of the right to abortion in the constitution gather for women’s rights rally in front of a giant screen to follow the debate on the single-article draft law near Eiffel Tower. (Photo by Mohamad Salaheldin Abdelg Alsayed/Anadolu via Getty Images)
This means that future governments will not be able to “drastically modify” the law, which allows women to have abortions up to 14 weeks of a pregnancy.
Women take part in a rally to call for the constitutionalisation of the right to abortion outside the Senate in Paris, on February 01, 2023. (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)
The change, which had already been passed by both houses of parliament, gained final approval with 780 votes against 72 in the joint session.
Placards reading “My body my choice” (L) and “Abortion in the Constitution” are seen during a rally to call for the constitutionalisation of the right to abortion outside the Senate in Paris. (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)
It was inspired in 2022 after the US reversed Roe v Wade, a landmark 1973 ruling that guaranteed access to abortion as a constitutional right.
A protestor holds a sign during a rally in support of worldwide abortion rights in Paris. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty Images)
Speaking after the vote, prime minister Gabriel Attal said that the decision sends a message to women that their bodies belong to them, and no one has to control it in their stead.
Thousands of women and men are taking to the streets of Toulouse on March 8th 2023 for International Women’s Day, holding cardboard reading ‘Liberty, Equality, Femininity’ and ‘Girl = boy’.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris was also lit up with the words “My Body My Choice” to mark the moment.
A message reading “My body my choice” is projected onto the Eiffel Tower after the French parliament voted to anchor the right to abortion in the country’s constitution, in Paris, on March 4, 2024. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
However, political analysts have pointed out that the change is French President Emmanuel Macron’s attempt to appeal to the left-leaning members of his party after controversial laws last year that raised the pension age and toughened immigration policies.
PARIS, FRANCE – JUNE 26: French and American women hold a Women’s Rights rally in Place de La Republique on June 26, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Owen Franken – Corbis/Getty Images)Pancarte “” lors de la manifestation à l’occasion de la journée internationale de lutte pour les droits des femmes le 8 mars 2023 à Bordeaux.
