On Monday, France enshrined a woman's right to an abortion in its constitution, which made it the first country in the world to do so. The move has been both celebrated by women's rights groups and criticized by anti-abortion groups.
The senators and members of parliament ruled overwhelmingly in favor of the measure by a vote of 480 to 72 in a special vote of the two houses of parliament in Versailles Palace outside of Paris.
Abortion rights groups gathered in Paris and cheered the decision as the Eiffel Tower provided the backdrop, displaying the message "MyBodyMyChoice" as the result of the vote was announced on a giant screen.
What Does This Mean?
Abortion rights are said to be more accepted by the population than in the United States and other Western countries. Reuters quoted a poll showing approximately 80% of French citizens are okay with abortion being legal.
"We're sending a message to all women: your body belongs to you and no one can decide for you," Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told lawmakers ahead of the vote.
Women in France have had the legal right to abortion since the French passed the law in 1974.
This recent measure makes it, in effect, an inalienable right. In the United States, the Supreme Court's decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, the ruling that recognized women's constitutional right to abortion, was a key catalyst in activists pushing France to become the first country to have it protected as basic law.
"This right (to abortion) has retreated in the United States. And so nothing authorized us to think that France was exempt from this risk," said Laura Slimani, from the Fondation des Femmes rights group.
Women's abortion rights in France are enshrined under Article 34 of the French constitution, which determines the conditions under which a woman has the guaranteed freedom to have an abortion.
"France is at the forefront," said the head of the lower house of parliament, Yael Braun-Pivet, from French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party.
