"France enshrines abortion rights in constitution, guaranteeing freedom to terminate pregnancy"

Planned Addition of Phrase Guaranteeing 'Freedom of Abortion'

There is growing momentum in France to enshrine the 'right to abortion' in the constitution.

The French daily newspaper Le Figaro reported on the 16th (local time) that the French government has submitted a draft amendment to the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee to explicitly include abortion in the constitution. According to the amendment, the phrase "The conditions under which a woman can voluntarily terminate her pregnancy shall be guaranteed by law" will be added to Article 34 of the constitution, which covers "matters regulated by law." The expression "guarantee of freedom" is a compromise chosen by the French government between "the right to abortion" and "freedom to abort."

Protesters demanding the constitutional enshrinement of women's abortion rights [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Earlier, President Emmanuel Macron pledged on International Women's Day last March to enshrine women's right to abortion in the constitution. The aim is to make abortion rights an "irreversible" right by constitutionalizing them. Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2022 decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which allowed abortion up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy, raised concerns about setbacks to abortion freedom in France as well, motivating the move to constitutionally guarantee abortion rights.

France abolished the crime of abortion in 1975 and currently recognizes abortion rights under ordinary law. Not only President Macron but also France's far-left parties have prepared amendments to enshrine the "right to abortion" in the constitution. This proposal passed the lower house with a majority in November 2022. However, in February last year, the upper house replaced the phrase "right to abortion" with "freedom," preventing the amendment from advancing to constitutional revision. To amend the constitution in France, both the lower and upper houses must pass the same constitutional amendment, followed by a national referendum.

However, if the government's compromise proposal prepared this time is submitted to a joint session of both houses, it can be approved with the support of at least three-fifths of all members of both houses without a national referendum. Le Figaro predicted that the amendment is likely to pass the lower house review scheduled for the end of this month without issue, but noted that persuading the upper house, controlled by the conservative Republican Party, on the 26th of next month will be the government's main challenge.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.