French lawmakers vote to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution
French lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill to enshrine abortion rights in the French Constitution, the first step in a complex legislative process that began in direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The bill, proposed by President Emmanuel Macron and his government, was passed by the National Assembly, the lower and more powerful house of the French parliament, with 493 votes in favor and 30 against. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal called the vote a 'big victory'.
Unlike in the United States, most French political parties broadly support the right to abortion, which was legalized in 1975, and there is no immediate or serious threat to its legality. Including that right in the constitution would not change the availability of abortion in France, where both residents and foreigners can terminate pregnancies.
But the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, which struck down the constitutional right to abortion, raised alarm bells in Europe and galvanized efforts in France to protect the right as inalienable. Activists have also pointed out that abortion rights are increasingly under threat in European countries such as Poland and Italy, making it all the more urgent to enshrine abortion rights in France in case future governments try to roll them back.
“While this freedom is not directly threatened or questioned in our country today, except by what is fortunately a very small minority of opinions, this is not the case in other countries.” the accounts introductory text.
It explicitly cites the US court's action to overturn Roe v. Wade after 49 years.
“Unfortunately, this event is not an isolated event: in many countries, even in Europe, there are movements that seek to hinder women's freedom to terminate their pregnancies if they wish,” it added.
Mathilde Panot, a top lawmaker from the left-wing France Unbowed party, said the bill is “revenge for the shame, secrecy, silence, suffering and death that hundreds of thousands of women have faced.”
If the proposal becomes reality, it would add a new rule to the French Constitution, stating that “the law determines the conditions under which a woman's guaranteed freedom to undergo a voluntary termination of pregnancy is exercised.”
The bill now heads to the Senate – controlled by right-wing lawmakers uncomfortable with the proposal's wording – which must approve the measure before the constitution can be amended. The Senate is expected to begin debating the bill in late February.
Éric Dupond-Moretti, France's justice minister, said on Tuesday he would try to convince the Senate with “determination and humility” that the bill was necessary. Le Planning Familial, a French equivalent of Planned Parenthood, hailed a “historic voice” in a “historic struggle for feminists.”
“Senators, we're counting on you now!” the organisation said on social media.
Even if the Senate passes the bill, the two chambers must agree on the exact same version of the proposal for it to move forward. It would then have to be approved by three-fifths of French lawmakers from both chambers, meeting for a special session, or by a popular referendum, which could yield unpredictable results. Macron's government favors the first option.
France's lower house passed a version of the amendment in 2022, but the Senate modified it significantly, and disagreements were not resolved, causing the bill to die. While the lower house wanted to enshrine a 'right', the Senate was in favor of granting only a 'freedom' to abortion.
The government then came under pressure to come up with its own bill, which Macron approved last year.