France urged to exonerate women convicted under old abortion laws

As France commemorates 50 years since the law decriminalising abortion came into effect, prominent figures in politics and the arts are urging the government to exonerate women convicted for abortions before 1975.

Jan 17, 2025

We, activists, researchers, elected officials, demand the rehabilitation of women unjustly convicted of abortion,” they wrote in a petition published on the Libération website.

The law, first debated by MPs in 1974, was championed by health minister Simone Veil and adopted for a trial period of five years before being made permanent in 1979.

Continued: https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20250117-france-urged-to-exonerate-women-convicted-under-old-abortion-laws

18.01.2025

News

Anne-Cécile Mailfert

Annie Ernaux

exonerate women convicted of abortion

France’s Veil abortion law leaves positive but fragile legacy, 50 years on

France on Friday marks 50 years since the law decriminalising abortion came into effect. Since then, the law has undergone numerous updates to reflect changes in society and was even enshrined in the Constitution in March 2024. But despite these advances, advocates warn that access to abortion remains fragile in practice.

Issued on: 17/01/2025
By: Ollia Horton with RFI

The law to decriminalise abortion was proposed by then-health minister Simone Veil in November 1974. She was one of only nine female MPs at the time and faced enormous pressure – and abuse – during the 25-hour parliamentary debate.

"I never imagined the hatred that I would unleash," Veil later said, recalling how some lawmakers likened abortion to the Holocaust – of which Veil was a survivor, having been deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps.

Continued: https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20250117-veil-abortion-law-leaves-positive-but-fragile-legacy-50-years-on

17.01.2025

News

conscience clause

enshrining abortion rights in constitution

France's abortion law

La Fondation des Femmes

Abortion has been legal in France for 50 years. Yet a clause allowing doctors to decline to perform the procedure raises questions

With every legislative change related to abortion, the clause stipulating that no healthcare provider 'is obliged to perform a voluntary termination of pregnancy' is questioned.

By Mattea Battaglia
January 17, 2025

It is one of those ethical topics little known to the general public but which still quietly divides healthcare professionals. "A doctor is never obliged to perform a voluntary termination of pregnancy," reads Article L2212-8 of the Public Health Code. This clause also applies to midwives, nurses, and auxiliary medical staff. Each time the law concerning abortion evolves, since it was passed 50 years ago, on January 17, 1975, this specific conscience clause resurfaces in debates before ultimately being reaffirmed in the law.

A general clause also existed, allowing practitioners to refuse to perform any act for professional or personal reasons. Found in Article 47 of the Medical Code of Ethics, the regulatory clause gave all practitioners the right to refuse care, "except in emergencies or when it would fail their duty of humanity." The coexistence of these two texts led healthcare workers to refer to a "double conscience clause" for abortion. This special treatment continues to raise questions.

Continued: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2025/01/17/abortion-has-been-legal-in-france-for-50-years-yet-a-clause-allowing-doctors-to-decline-to-perform-the-procedure-raises-questions_6737153_7.html

17.01.2025

Commentary

Article L2212-8

belief-based care denial

conscience clause

conscientious objection

Joëlle Belaïsch-Allart

Medical Code of Ethics

National College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians of France

Fellowship opens door to comprehensive abortion access coverage in U.S., France

Lara Salahi
December 2, 2024

Ariel Cohen, a health policy reporter for CQ Roll Call, recently completed a comprehensive series of six stories examining abortion care policies in the United States and France. This in-depth reporting project, made possible through AHCJ’s International Health Study Fellowship, allowed Cohen to spend two weeks in France, comparing and contrasting the abortion policies and practices of both nations.

Her work comes at a critical time, as the U.S. grapples with the aftermath of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, while France moves to enshrine abortion rights in its constitution.

Continued: https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2024/12/fellowship-opens-door-to-comprehensive-abortion-access-coverage-in-u-s-france/

02.12.2024

Interviews/Podcasts

Ariel Cohen

Association of Health Care Journalists

CQ Roll Call

International Health Study Fellowship

France marks 50 years since journey to decriminalise abortion began

Fifty years ago the French parliament passed a groundbreaking bill that would eventually decriminalise abortion, championed by health minister Simone Veil, amidst intense opposition.

29/11/2024
By: Sarah Elzas with RFI

After three days of fierce debate, the first draft of the bill was passed on 29 November, 1974. And while the right to abortion has since been enshrined in the French constitution, a world first, the bill’s adoption by the National Assembly half a century ago was far from a given.

Newly elected president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing had promised to decriminalise abortion, but his justice minister, Jean Lecanuet, who was tasked with drafting the legislation, refused to do it for personal, ethical reasons.

Continued: https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20241129-fifty-years-ago-france-started-on-path-to-decriminalising-abortion

29.11.2024

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing

Hundreds rally in the streets of Paris to support world abortion rights

Hundreds of people have marched in Paris in support of the right to abortion for women across the world

By DIANE JEANTET, Associated Press
September 28, 2024

PARIS -- Hundreds of people came out in Paris on Saturday, marching in support of the right to abortion for women across the world, just six months after France became the first country to guarantee in its constitution a woman's right to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy.

The protest, organized by civil society groups to mark International Safe Abortion Day, also called for greater and easier access to abortion in France, denouncing budget cuts, staff reductions and the closure of abortion centers and maternity wards, which organizers say all contribute to penalizing women.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/hundreds-rally-streets-paris-support-world-abortion-rights-114317884

28.09.2024

News

enshrining abortion rights in constitution

International Safe Abortion Day

Olympics-host France Leads on Liberalizing Abortion

2024 is not only the year France hosts the Summer Olympics but also marks the year France became the first country to explicitly protect abortion in its constitution.

July 24, 2024
Center for Reproductive Rights

More than 15 million visitors are expected to travel to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, taking place from July 26 to August 11. While these visitors are there to support their national teams, it also presents an opportunity to reflect on how their home countries compare to the host nation in terms of abortion rights and access.

In a historic milestone for reproductive rights in Europe, on March 4, 2024, France’s parliament voted overwhelmingly, by 780-72, to revise the country’s 1958 constitution to enshrine women’s “guaranteed freedom” to access abortion. President of France, Emmanuel Macron, described the decision as sending a universal message.”

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/paris-olympics-france-abortion-law/

24.07.2024

News

Center for Reproductive Rights

Emmanuel Macron

enshrining abortion rights in constitution

What GOP’s European abortion example looks like in France

French law bans elective abortions after the first trimester but includes sweeping exceptions

By Ariel Cohen
July 3, 2024

PARIS — Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, Republicans on Capitol Hill and conservative justices have regularly cited European laws barring abortion after the first trimester of pregnancy to argue for similar policy in the United States.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. both cited European abortion limits in their opinions in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case. More recently, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has called for a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks of gestation, told reporters on Capitol Hill that a first-trimester abortion limit would put the U.S. in line with other peer nations.

“Forty-seven of 50 European nations have national limits on abortion between 12 and 15 weeks,” Graham said in April after former President Donald Trump said he would leave abortion policies to the states. “This is the civilized world’s position.”

Continued: https://rollcall.com/2024/07/03/what-gops-european-abortion-example-looks-like-in-france/

In France, abortion restrictions offset by medical autonomy

While U.S. grapples to recruit OB-GYNs in the aftermath of Dobbs, French restrictions spur less concern

By Ariel Cohen
Posted May 16, 2024

PARIS — In an airless classroom in Paris City University one Friday afternoon in March, a group of 17 female health care professionals — some doctors, some midwives — gathered to spend the weekend learning how to perform surgical abortions.

Sophie Gaudau is the no-nonsense leader of REVHO health network, which started providing abortion training for health professionals 20 years ago, back when abortion access in France was slightly more limited for patients and in terms of what the doctor could do. Today her organization receives support from the French Ministry of Health and Prevention.

Continued: https://rollcall.com/2024/05/16/in-france-abortion-restrictions-offset-by-medical-autonomy/

As U.S. Faces a Rising Tide of Abortion Bans and Restrictions, France Enshrines Freedom of Access in the Constitution

The U.S. and France offer starkly different environments for women—but both countries share a strong feminist tradition. How do we explain their radically different abortion trajectories?

3/27/2024
by SHOSHANNA EHRLICH and LAURA FRADER, Ms. Magazine

In 2023, seeking “to avoid a U.S.-like scenario for women in France, as hard-right groups are gaining ground,” President Emmanuel Macron promised a constitutional amendment affirming women’s right to abortion and to control over their own bodies. The amendment subsequently passed by a crushing majority of 780 to 72 votes and was inserted ceremoniously into the French Constitution on March 8, 2024, International Women’s Day.

In celebration, the Eiffel Tower was lit up with the message “My Body, My Choice.” This global first came approximately 50 years after the French Parliament first voted to decriminalize abortion with the passage of the Veil Law, named for feminist minister of health Simone Veil, who championed the reform.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2024/03/27/france-abortion-usa-bans-constitution-right/