by Stefano Montefiori, Paris correspondent
A historic decision that, given the majority of centrists and right-wing senators, cannot be taken for granted. Green light without changes to the text approved by the Assemble Nationale
PARIS – With 267 votes in favor and 50 against, the French Senate has approved the inclusion in the Constitution of an article guaranteeing women's right to abortion: the law establishes the conditions under which the freedom guaranteed to women is exercised voluntary abortion. This evening the Senate wrote a new page on the subject of women's rights, this historic vote – commented the French Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti –. We will be the first country in the world to enshrine women's freedom to control their own bodies in its constitution. This vote is essentially an affirmation for those who do not yet know that women are free in our country.
After this positive vote, which was not a given given the conservative majority of senators, all that remains is the adoption of a final, ceremonial but now predictable vote by the chambers assembled on March 4th. Great satisfaction from President Emmanuel Macron: I am committed to making women's freedom to resort to abortion irreversible by enshrining it in the Constitution. After the National Assembly, the Senate takes a decisive step. And great satisfaction for feminist associations: a victory for all women who want to see the right to control their own bodies guaranteed, declared the Osez le fminisme association, with a thought for the 47,000 women in the world who still have clandestine abortions die.
Among the 50 senators who opposed it, mostly belonging to the right-wing Rpublicain party, many, like Senate President Grard Larcher, argued that in France, unlike the United States, the right to abortion was not questioned by anyone and was therefore useless and counterproductive to the import divisions and debates that rage across the Atlantic in many American states. But one episode over the weekend may have helped convince some that this right is not so uncontested after all and that it is therefore better to guarantee it constitutionally. On Sunday, during a CNews program (Vincent Bollor's popular television channel, close to traditionalists and reactionary positions), a graphic was broadcast that defined abortion as the main cause of death worldwide, with 73 million deaths in 2022. Due to cancer, 10 million have died; and for tobacco 6.2 million. The next day, after protests from many viewers, the channel retracted the words of its most famous presenter Laurence Ferrari – we apologize to everyone and especially to women – and withdrew the video from its website.
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February 28, 2024 (changed February 28, 2024 | 11:39 p.m.)
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