MON CORPS, MON CHOIX

Translated by Irene Cecchi

President Macron’s promise to enshrine the abortion right in the Constitution is finally reality, making it irreversible and guaranteed. France has been the first country ever to achieve this goal and at the same time sent a message to the whole world just before March 8th, the International Women’s Day.

After being discussed and approved by the National Assembly and the Senate (the two chambers that compose the Parliament) in the last months, the proposal to change the 34th article of the Constitution was finally approved on March 4th, 2023 during a joint session that resulted in 780 votes in favour and 72 against. The three-fifths majority needed to amend the Constitution was largely achieved.

The modified article is the 34th, title V, the one that regulates the relations between the Parliament and the Government, adding: “The law determines the conditions in which women have guaranteed liberty to resort to the voluntary termination of pregnancy”.

In 1975 the so-called Veil law made abortion legal but now they wanted to secure it as a consequence of the many countries all around the world that are threatening this right, such as the United States where the Supreme Court abolished the Roe vs. Wade sentence that guaranteed at federal level the possibility to terminate pregnancy.

Mathilde Panot, a representative of the left-wing party La France Insoumise, commented: “Not only we made history in France but it’s a milestone for the whole world. This is a parliamentary victory but most importantly it’s a win for all the feminist associations that fought for years in order to give women the right to be in charge of their own bodies”.

While Eric Dupond-Moretti, Minister of Justice, said: “An historic moment. We don’t have to wait until this right will be threatened to protect it”.

Of course there are also opposite opinions. The French Bishops Conference reiterated that “abortion, an attack to life to its early stage, can’t be considered only from a single point of view; we regret the fact that the debate didn’t take into account support measures for those who want to keep their child”.

The message that France sent to the rest of the world tells them that defending rights should be a priority in the public debate, independent from any political party. It also represents a tangible commitment to the promotion of fundamental rights, hoping in a future where every woman all around the world has the freedom to decide over her own body.

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