The National Assembly of France approves the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution
The National Assembly of France voted on Tuesday to include the “guaranteed freedom” of women to abort in the Constitution. This amendment, proposed by President Emmanuel Macron’s government, will now be debated in the Senate, where there is a conservative majority. The constitutional change, if approved, would make France’s Magna Carta the only one in the world to explicitly guarantee access to voluntary termination of pregnancy. The vote in the National Assembly was overwhelmingly in favor, with 493 votes in favor and 30 against. French Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti described it as a historic moment.
The proposed formula to be added to Article 34 of the Constitution is as follows: “The law determines the conditions under which the guaranteed freedom of women to resort to a voluntary termination of pregnancy is exercised.” During the debate, political parties emphasized that the right to abortion is currently not in question in France, but they expressed concerns about similar setbacks in other countries. The inclusion of this “guaranteed freedom” in the Constitution would protect women in France from the potential elimination of abortion rights through ordinary legislation promoted by a reactionary majority. The vote was seen as a non-partisan effort to defend women’s rights.
Right-wing conservatives noted reservations, such as the need for time limits and protection of conscience-based medical objections, but they ultimately voted in favor. Far-right legislators, including Marine Le Pen’s party, criticized the initiative as unnecessary. The bill will now move to the Senate for further consideration. The Government’s choice of the concept of “guaranteed freedom” instead of “right” to abortion was an attempt to find consensus between the two chambers. If approved by the Senate, the bill will require a majority of at least three-fifths in Congress in Versailles. The only previous inclusion of abortion in a Magna Carta was in the 1974 Constitution of the former Yugoslavia.
France has had the right to abortion since 1975, thanks to legislation introduced by Simone Veil, a prominent political figure whose legacy was remembered during the debate in the National Assembly.