France, the First Country in the World to Constitutionally Guarantee the Freedom to Abortion

France has become the first country in the world to constitutionally guarantee the freedom to have an abortion. On the 4th (local time), the French Parliament approved a constitutional amendment explicitly guaranteeing women's freedom to have an abortion. Although there will be no substantial changes in France, where abortion is already permitted, the significance lies in the constitutional recognition of women's right to self-determination.

According to local foreign media, the French Senate and National Assembly held a joint session at the Palace of Versailles on the outskirts of Paris and passed the constitutional amendment with 780 votes in favor and 72 against. To pass a constitutional amendment in a joint session of both houses, at least three-fifths of the valid votes (852 votes) must be in favor, and the number of affirmative votes that day far exceeded the required quorum of 512.

Following the amendment, Article 34 of the French Constitution now includes a clause stating that "the conditions under which a woman may voluntarily terminate her pregnancy shall be determined by law." This means that women's right to self-determination has been codified in the constitution. However, abortion has been permitted in France since 1975.

In June 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 'Roe v. Wade' ruling that allowed abortion up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy, France pushed to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution to make it an irreversible right. In November 2022, the National Assembly approved a constitutional amendment proposed by lawmakers that explicitly stated the 'right' to abortion, but three months later, the Senate passed a revised version changing 'right' to 'freedom,' causing the constitutional amendment to fail. To amend the constitution, both houses must approve the amendment with identical wording. Ultimately, the Macron administration decided to lead the amendment directly and succeeded in persuading both houses by proposing a compromise phrase guaranteeing the 'freedom to have an abortion.'

In accordance with the principle of separation of powers, President Emmanuel Macron, who did not attend the session, described the vote result immediately after its announcement on X (formerly Twitter) as "France's pride, a message to the world," and announced that he would publicly hold a ceremony to affix the national seal to the constitution on March 8, International Women's Day, to celebrate the occasion.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal also said on X, "Today, France has sent a historic message to the world that a woman's body belongs to the woman herself and no one has the right to dispose of it on her behalf," adding, "This is the second victory for Simone Veil and all those who paved the way." Simone Veil was the Minister of Health and a women's rights activist who led the legalization of abortion in France in 1975.

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