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MPs will meet on Monday ahead of a vote on whether freedom to have an abortion should be included in the French constitution.
ParisCNN –
France became the first country in the world on Monday to enshrine the right to abortion in its Constitution, the culmination of an effort that began in direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
MPs from both chambers of the French Parliament voted 780 to 72 in favor of the measure, easily achieving the three-fifths majority needed to amend the French constitution.
Monday's vote, which took place during a special meeting of lawmakers at the Palace of Versailles southwest of Paris, was the final step in the legislative process. The French Senate and National Assembly each approved the change with overwhelming majorities earlier this year.
The amendment states that there is “guaranteed freedom” to abortion in France. Some groups and lawmakers had called for stricter language to specifically label abortion as a “right.”
MEPs hailed the move as a historic opportunity for France to send a clear signal of support for reproductive rights as abortion faces threats in the United States, as well as in parts of Europe such as Hungary, where far-right parties have gained momentum.
After the vote, the Eiffel Tower was illuminated with the words “My body is my choice.”
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After Monday's vote, the Eiffel Tower will be lit up with the message “My body is my choice.”
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said before the vote that lawmakers had a “moral debt” to women who were forced into illegal abortions in the past.
“Most importantly, we send a message to all women: your body belongs to you,” Attal said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the government would hold a ceremony to celebrate the passage of the amendment on Friday, International Women's Rights Day.
Ivan Couronne/AFP/Getty Images
An embryologist is seen at work at the Virginia Center for Reproductive Medicine in Reston, Virginia, on June 12, 2019 – freezing your eggs, getting pregnant after age 50, choosing the sex of the baby: When it comes to in vitro fertilization and When it comes to other assisted reproductive procedures in the United States, expectant parents are spoiled for choice. This is not the case in many other countries, including France, which is hoping to pass laws that would allow single women and lesbian couples to benefit from these technologies for the first time. (Photo by Ivan Couronne / AFP) / TO AFP STORY by Ivan COURONNE: “In US, relaxed IVF laws help aspiring parents realize their dreams” (Photo by IVAN COURONNE/AFP via Getty Images)
How the reversal of Roe vs. Wade led the Alabama Supreme Court to rule that frozen embryos were children
France first legalized abortion in 1975. after a campaign led by Then-Health Minister Simone Veil, an Auschwitz survivor who became one of the country's most famous feminist icons.
While abortion is a highly controversial issue in US politics, often negotiated across party lines, it has broad support in France. Many of the lawmakers who voted against the amendment did so not because they opposed abortion, but because they believed the measure was unnecessary given the broad support for reproductive rights.
The passage of the measure is a clear victory for the French left, which has been pushing for years to guarantee the right to abortion in the constitution. Before 2022, President Emmanuel Macron's government – as well as current opponents of the change – argued that the move was unnecessary.
However, in 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Roe v. Wade decided and let the states decide it individually As the problem resolved itself, France was pushed into action.
French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti previously said before the debate began in the National Assembly in January that history was full of other examples where “fundamental rights” were believed to be secure but were then taken away, “as we recently remembered.” U.S. Supreme Court decision.”
“We now have irrefutable evidence that no democracy, not even the largest of all, is immune,” he said.
The vote marks the 25th time the French government has changed its constitution since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958.
The Catholic Church was among the few groups that expressed opposition to the change. The Pontifical Academy for Life, the Vatican body that focuses on bioethics issues, said in a statement: “In the age of universal human rights, there can be no 'right' to take human life.”
A conference of French bishops also reiterated the church's opposition to abortion on Thursday ahead of the vote.
CNN's Joseph Ataman and Christopher Lamb contributed to this report