by Philippe Faucher
“The two French Parliamentary chambers met on 4 March 2024 in the Congress of Versailles and voted in favour of the constitutional bill to include abortion as a fundamental right in law. Deputies and senators overwhelmingly approved the constitutional revision with 780 votes ‘for’ of 852 votes cast (72 ‘against’). This evolution of the French Constitution completes a process initiated in reaction to the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States (US) in 2022 to repeal the ‘Roe vs Wade’ ruling, which had protected access to abortion in the US at the federal level. The inclusion of abortion in the French Constitution is considered a means of protecting this fundamental right….
“Although this has been widely applauded, the wording used in the new Constitution leaves some room for concern that abortion may not be as protected as one would assume…. The wording proposed by the Government, which is now inserted in the Constitution inside Article 34, can be translated as follows: “The law determines the conditions in which the freedom guaranteed to the woman to have recourse to a voluntary termination of pregnancy is exercised.”….
“… this wording leaves open the possibility that laws could be passed in the future that might place restrictions on abortion…. Three principles are under debate, explained the Minister of Justice: “The freedom of women to have an abortion, the freedom of conscience for doctors and midwives and finally the principle of safeguarding the dignity of the human person”….
“Three things are regrettable:
– that the wording removed the notion of ‘right’…;
– that the wording chosen was only ‘woman’ without any reference to transgender people…,
– that there persists a conscientious objection specific to abortion while this does not exist in some other European legislation (such as Sweden and Norway)….
“Despite the few regrets stated above, I am proud that France is the first country in the world to include freedom of abortion in its Constitution….
“Several deputies indicated that the fight should not stop there and have tabled another date for a proposal for a European resolution,… as Macron said his wish was to take the same fight to the European stage…
SOURCE: Philippe Faucher. BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health, Personal View, 2024;50:153-54. DOI:10.1136/bmjsrh-2024-202316. PHOTO: Interview on YouTube with Allo Docteurs: Le Magazine de la Santé, 2021.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Yugoslavia pioneered abortion rights in their constitution long before France.
SEE: ICWRSA Newsletter, 22 March 2024