Politics
France Is Set To Become The First Country To Make Abortion A Constitutional “Freedom”
The bill was initially introduced in response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.
French lawmakers made global history when they voted to make abortion a constitutional right. While abortion has been legal in the European country since 1974, the right to the procedure is on track to be added to the country’s constitution, making France the first country in the world to do so.
France’s Senate overwhelmingly voted in a favor — 267 to 50 — of a bill proposed earlier this year by the National Assembly, a lower court, to enshrine the right to abortion care. French President Emmanuel Macron said he fully supports this constitutional update and will meet with parliament in Congress on Monday for a final vote. PBS News Hour reports that this session is “largely a formality” as the major political parties in France support the right to abortion.
“I am committed to making women’s freedom to have an abortion irreversible by enshrining it in the Constitution,” Macron wrote in a statement following the vote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “After the National Assembly, the Senate is taking a decisive step which I welcome.”
When the French government initially introduced this bill, local news outlet France 24 reports that lawmakers said it was a “necessary” measure after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, reversing the landmark ruling that protected the right to have an abortion in the U.S. for nearly 50 years and leaving the decision up to each individual state.
“Unfortunately, this event is not isolated: in many countries, even in Europe, there are currents of opinion that seek to hinder at any cost the freedom of women to terminate their pregnancy if they wish,” the French legislation says in its introduction, per PBS News Hour.
Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade, abortion access has been severely restricted in a majority of states. As of January 2024, 14 states have completely banned abortion in nearly all situations. More still have created practical and legal barriers that have impeded access to facilities or the time necessary to obtain an abortion. Some states, however, are making moves like lawmakers have done in France. In Maryland, for example, Americans will vote to add abortion to the state’s constitution.
