A voice for history: France on Monday became the first country in the world to explicitly include voluntary abortion (IVC) in its constitution after receiving very broad approval from Parliament in Congress at the Palace of Versailles, which was greeted with a long ovation.
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The residence of the Kings of France and its vast plenary hall vibrated with thunderous applause as deputies and senators completed the consideration of this historic constitutional revision, the result of a long-standing political and feminist struggle.
The consensus was strong: 780 parliamentarians voted in favor, but only 72 voted against, mainly from the right and far right. A result of almost 92% of the votes cast, much more than the three-fifths majority required to amend the Supreme Text.
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“The law establishes the conditions under which the freedom guaranteed to a woman to have a voluntary abortion is exercised.” This sentence, introduced in Article 34 of the Constitution, is what makes France so clear in its basic text about abortion a pioneer in the world, in contrast to several countries where abortion rights are declining, in the United States and Eastern Europe.
“French pride, universal message,” Emmanuel Macron wrote on
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal welcomed “a step that will go down in history” and “a second victory for Simone Veil”. “France is true to its heritage (…) home of human rights and, above all, women’s rights.”
“Magic moment”
The announcement of the voting results by the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, the first woman to chair the Congress, caused an explosion of joy in the bright red armchairs of the Chamber and in the Place du Trocadéro in Paris, where several hundred gathered People gathered to watch the debates on a big screen with smoke bombs and flags in hand.
While several female parliamentarians sang the women's anthem in the chamber, the Eiffel Tower began to sparkle, displaying feminist messages in several languages.
Ms. Braun-Pivet expressed her “proud for all the women who fought for abortion rights.”
In a sign of the global dimension of this vote, the Vatican sharply criticized the inclusion of abortion in France's constitution, arguing that “there can be no 'right' to destroy a human life.”
There was excitement at the Palace of Versailles as several parliamentarians expressed their delight at this rare moment in the life of an elected official, on the fiftieth anniversary of the vote on the veil law that legalized abortion in France in 1974.
While the Left reserved its speeches only to speakers in Congress, the Renaissance and Les Républicains groups chose four men to summarize their groups' positions.
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“This fight is part of the great history, it is very rare,” said the leader of the insurgent MPs Mathilde Panot, welcoming the initiative of this revision in the assembly. She admitted to having a “slightly magical moment” when she wore a green outfit, the rallying color of abortion advocates in Latin America. “Never again will there be the angel makers, the hangers, the needles, the dead,” added environmentalist Mélanie Vogel.
“We will continue for those who oppose Trump, Bolsonaro, Orbán, Milei, Putin, Giorgia Meloni,” shouted the Socialist Senator Laurence Rossignol from the podium, receiving several standing ovations from Congress under the eyes of around thirty foreign journalists from around 150 accredited.
consensus
In recent months, Emmanuel Macron has made this reform one of the flagship promises of the social aspect of his politics, taking up the various parliamentary initiatives of the Left, which is supported by the majority.
The formulation of “guaranteed freedom” for abortion is the culmination of long debates in Parliament and especially in the Senate, where part of the right was reluctant, including President Gérard Larcher, who ultimately abstained on Monday.
The head of the LR MP Olivier Marleix pointed out the “risk” of creating an “absolute right”. But “we owe this vote to women’s freedom,” he acknowledged, acknowledging the “threats” inherent in abortion in the world.
Even more offensively, Marine Le Pen mocked “one day for the glory of Emmanuel Macron.”
On a generally consensual day, several rebel leaders and environmentalists nevertheless accused Mr. Attal of “making invisible” the initiatives of several left-wing women.
Abortion opponents, for their part, demonstrated in Versailles in the afternoon and gathered more than 500 people who called for “protection of life”.
On the other hand, National Family Planning President Sarah Durocher welcomed a “historic day” but warned of the need to begin work on resources for “abortion access.”