President of France, Emmanuel Macron promised to enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in the French Constitution by next year. The minister for gender equality, Bérangère Couillard, says, “This is a victory for all women and a strong symbol sent to other countries of the world where our rights are losing ground.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday, October 29, his government plans to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution to make them “irreversible.”
The text of the bill to reconcile all sides has been in the works for months. The president said that this coming week it would be sent to the Council of State, France’s highest administrative body, a necessary step. It would then be presented to the Cabinet by year’s end.
Macron’s office said that Article 34 of the constitution would be amended to include that “the law determines the conditions by which is exercised the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.”
Abortion in France
Abortion in France was legalised in 1975 and several laws enacted since then have aimed to improve the conditions for abortions, notably by protecting the health and anonymity of women, as well as lightening the financial burden of the procedure.
An opinion poll last year showed that 89% of respondents wanted abortion rights to be better protected under the constitution.
Anticipating the end of the process, the minister for gender equality, Bérangère Couillard, said on X: “This is a victory for all women and a strong symbol sent to other countries of the world where our rights are losing ground.”
According to government figures, 234,000 abortions were carried out in France last year.