The French Senate on Wednesday voted in favor of enshrining abortion rights into the country's constitution with 267 in favor and only 50 against.
The legislation would now need to receive the approval of a three-fifths majority of both houses that would meet in a joint congress on Mar. 4. In a statement, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that the vote marked "huge progress" and was a "protection that we owe to all women."
France Votes to Enshrine Abortion Rights Into Constitution
He added that the passage of the bill is the recognition of women's right to freely control their bodies. The legislation was quickly discussed following the United States Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which is a 1973 ruling that secured access to abortion across the American nation.
Following the 2022 decision, several U.S. states have passed new legislation to restrict women's access to abortion. A recent local court decision in Alabama also impacted in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures as well.
The explanatory introduction to the French president's constitutional law proposal noted that the Supreme Court demonstrated that rights and freedoms are precious to the people but can still be threatened even though they seem to be firmly established, as per EuroNews.
The introduction continued to say that that incident was not an isolated event, noting that there have been movements in many nations, including in Europe, that have tried to restrict access to abortion. In 2020, a court ruling in Poland led to a near-total ban on abortion across the country.
In France, abortion has been authorized since 1975 when legislation led by then health minister Simone Veil decriminalized the procedure in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. Since then, the time limit has been extended to 14 weeks and the cost of the procedure has become covered by the national health insurance system.
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Prompted by a US Ruling
The country's National Assembly, or lower house of parliament, previously endorsed a constitutional change in November last year but the Senate changed the wording. French President Emmanuel Macron last year announced a new legislative proposal to amend the constitution. It was made on Mar. 8, 2023, during an homage to feminist activist Gisele Halimi.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Macron said that he was committed to making women's freedom to have an abortion irreversible by enshrining it in the constitution. His post was made in celebration of the French Senate's latest decision on the matter, according to CNN.
The decision had also received overwhelming support from the French public based on polling. However, it faced criticism from right-wing lawmakers. Supporters of the bill said that constitutionalization would safeguard abortion rights even if an anti-abortion majority were to be voted into office.
In support of the decision, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said that it is always too late if they wait until a right is threatened to protect it. He added that the freedom of abortion is unlike others because it allows people to decide their future themselves. He noted that women must be allowed to control theirs for democracy to control its destiny, said the New York Times.
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