Abortion is enshrined as a constitutional right in France

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal speaks during the Congress of both houses of Parliament at the Palace of Versailles, west of Paris, on Monday. Both houses of Parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate, had already adopted a bill to amend Article 34 of the French Constitution to specify that “the law determines the conditions by which is exercised the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.” In the lead-up to the historic vote, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal addressed the 925 lawmakers gathered for the joint session in Versailles, and called on them to make France a leader in women’s rights and set an example in defense of women’s rights for countries around the world. Le Pen, who won a record number of seats in the National Assembly two years ago, said Monday that her party will vote in favor of the bill but added that “there is no need to make this a historic day.” The right to an abortion has broad support among the French public. Sarah Durocher, a leader in the Family Planning movement, said Monday’s vote is “a victory for feminists and a defeat for the anti-choice activists.” With the right to an abortion added to the constitution, it will be much harder to prevent women from voluntarily terminating a pregnancy in France, women’s rights and equality activists said. “But those same people may one day vote for a far-right government, and what happened in the U.S. can happen elsewhere in Europe, including in France.” Inscribing abortion into the French Constitution “will make it harder for abortion opponents of the future to challenge these rights, but it won’t prevent them from doing it in the long run, with the right political strategy,” Philip-Gay added.