The measure, presented by the Macron government, still needs to be validated in a joint session of Congress
The French Senate approved on Wednesday (28.Feb.2024) a bill that makes the termination of pregnancy a constitutional right. The senators did not make changes to the wording of the text, which had already received the approval of the deputies. Now, the measure needs to be approved by 3/5 in a joint session of Congress.
Abortion has been decriminalized in France since the mid-1970s, allowing women to undergo the procedure up to the 14th week of pregnancy. The measure, however, has no constitutional protection and can be reversed in court – something similar to what happened in the United States in 2022, when the country's Supreme Court overturned the jurisprudence that allows abortion in the country by revoking the decision known as “Roe v. Wade.”
The case in the USA was one of the reasons that led the government of French President Emmanuel Macron to present the project, which was approved in the Senate by 267 votes in favor and 50 against.
“In the United States, the right to abortion was called into question at the federal level by a Supreme Court decision of June 24, 2022. In other countries, especially in Europe, certain movements seek to restrict the right to abortion and contraception”, reads a note from the Senate issued after the approval of the text.
“In this context, the President of the Republic expressed the desire to include in the Constitution the freedom of women to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy”, he adds.
In your profile on X (formerly Twitter), Macron said he was “committed to making women's freedom to have an abortion irreversible, enshrining it in the Constitution”. He wrote: “After the National Assembly, the Senate takes a decisive step that I welcome”. He stated that he will call a session of Congress for next Monday (4th March) to vote on the text.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on X that Wednesday (28.Feb) was a day that marked “political history” from the country. According to him, the vote in the Senate is “a huge step forward”. The measure is “a protection” that France owes to women.
“It is the recognition of your right to freely dispose of your body” he wrote. “When women's rights are attacked around the world, France stands up and puts itself at the forefront of progress”, he added.
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