The country becomes the first to include the right to abortion in its Constitution as the whole world celebrates International Women’s Rights Day.
France included the guaranteed right to abortion in its constitution on Friday, a strong message of support for women’s rights on International Women’s Day.
Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti used a 19th-century printing press to seal the amendment in the French Constitution in a special public ceremony. Applause filled Place Vendôme as France became the first country to explicitly include the right to abortion in its national charter.
The measure was overwhelmingly approved by French lawmakers earlier this week, and Friday’s ceremony means it can now go into effect.
Rights defenders welcome this approach
While abortion is a deeply divisive issue in the United States, it is legal in almost all of Europe and overwhelmingly supported in France, where IGV is seen more as a public health issue than a political issue. French lawmakers approved the constitutional amendment Monday by a vote of 780 to 72, supported by many far-right lawmakers.
The French constitutional amendment has been praised by women’s rights advocates around the world, including in countries where women struggle to access birth control or maternal health care.
French President Emmanuel Macron said it was a direct consequence of the US Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling, which repealed long-held abortion rights.
Emmanuel Macron called on other countries to follow his example and proposed including the right to abortion in the European Union charter, drawing applause from the crowd in Paris. However, such a move would likely face strong resistance from EU members that have strict abortion restrictions, such as Poland.
A measure that divides
Critics of Mr. Macron have questioned the reasons which pushed him to take this measure in a country where the right to abortion is not obviously threatened, but where women face a multitude of problems. other problems.
While some French women consider this measure a great victory, others assert that in reality, not all French women have access to abortion.
“It’s a smokescreen” said Arya Meroni, 32, about the event.
“The government is destroying our health system, many family planning centers have closed“, she declared during the “Feminist night march” organized each year in Paris on the eve of International Women’s Day.
Still, for people like Lunise Marquis, 44, a public relations director, it’s a “major step for women’s rights“.
_”We are sending a message to the whole world,” she declared.
France has a persistently high rate of femicide: women killed by their partners and challenges remain in prosecuting sexual abuse of women by powerful celebrities and other men.
French women are also seeing their salaries and pensions fall, particularly those who are not white.