The French Senate on Wednesday adopted a bill aimed at enshrining a woman’s right to abortion in the Constitution, removing a major obstacle to the legislation.
Wednesday’s vote came after the National Assembly overwhelmingly approved the proposal in January. The measure will now go to a joint session of Parliament, which is expected to approve it by a three-fifths majority next week.
After the vote, Mr Macron said his government was committed to “make women’s right to abortion irreversible by enshrining it in the Constitution”. He said on X, formerly Twitter, that he would convene a joint session of parliament for a final vote on Monday.
The Macron government wants article 34 of the Constitution to be amended to specify that “the law determines the conditions under which women’s freedom to resort to abortion is exercised, which is guaranteed.”
The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 267 for and 50 against. “This vote is historic”declared the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti. “The Senate has written a new page for women’s rights.”
In its presentation of the bill, the government argued that the right to abortion was threatened in the United States, where the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned a 50-year-old ruling which guaranteed it.
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