France to seal the right to abortion in its constitution, USA still in dark ages
Pro-abortion supporters watch a live transmission of the congress session where French lawmakers have approved a bill that will enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in the French Constitution, at Trocadero Plaza in Paris, on Monday, March 4, 2024. (AP)
France’s leadership will use a Napoleon-era press to seal the right to abortion into the country’s constitution in a historic ceremony on Friday that’s open to the public – and designed to show support to women across the world on International Women’s Day.
France is the first country to explicitly guarantee abortion rights in the national charter.
While abortion is a deeply divisive issue in the United States, it’s legal in nearly all of Europe and overwhelmingly supported in France, where it’s seen more as a question of public health and not politics. French legislators approved the constitutional amendment on Monday in a 780-72 vote that was backed by many far-right lawmakers.
Friday’s ceremony, held on the cobblestones of Vendome Plaza in Paris, is a key event on a day focused on advancing women’s rights globally. Marches, protests and conferences are being held from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Mexico City and beyond.
The French constitutional amendment has been hailed by women’s rights advocates around the world, including places where women struggle to access birth control or maternal health care. French President Emmanuel Macron called it a direct result of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2022 rescinding long-held abortion rights.
Macron’s critics questioned why he pursued the measure in a country with no obvious threat to abortion rights but where women face a multitude of other problems.
France has a persistently high rate of women killed by their partners and challenges remain in prosecuting sexual abuse against women by powerful celebrities and other men. French women also see lower pay and pensions — especially women who are not white.
Macron’s government said the abortion amendment was important to avoid a U.S.-like scenario for women in France, as hard-right groups are gaining ground and seeking to turn back the clock on freedoms around Europe.
Macron will preside over the constitutional ceremony. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti will use a 100-kilogram (220-pound) press from 1810 to imprint the amendment in France’s 1958 constitution.
It will include the phrase saying, “the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.” The ceremony will be held outdoors with the public invited, in another first.
France follows in the footsteps of the former Yugoslavia, whose 1974 constitution included the phrase: “A person is free to decide on having children.” Yugoslavia’s successor states retained similar language in their constitutions, though they did not spell out guaranteed abortion rights.
In Ireland, voters will decide on Friday whether to change the constitution to remove passages referring to women’s domestic duties and broadening the definition of the family.
Protesters in Istanbul plan to call attention to violence against women, and rallies are expected in many cities. Protests are often political and, at times, violent, rooted in women’s efforts to improve their rights as workers. This year’s global theme is “Inspire Inclusion.”
In Jakarta, Indonesian demonstrators demanded the government adopt the International Labor Organization’s Conventions concerning gender equality and eliminating violence and harassment in the workplace. In Thailand, where Parliament is discussing laws on labor’s rights and welfare, labor rights groups organized a march to the Government House to petition for better work conditions.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a cut in the price of cooking gas cylinders by 100 rupees ($1.20) on Friday. He posted on the social media platform X that the move to cut household costs was “in line with our commitment to empowering women.”
Officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977, International Women’s Day is a national holiday in some 20 countries including Russia, Ukraine and Afghanistan.
