France adds abortion rights to the constitution. Could it happen in Canada?

France's upgrading of abortion rights is a bold political message in a world that is increasingly veering to the far right.

By Allan Woods, Staff Reporter
Monday, March 4, 2024

PARIS—However linked the two countries' histories, however shared their values, it is difficult to imagine Canada following in France's footsteps to enshrine the right to abortion in the Constitution.

French lawmakers did that Monday in a historic vote at Château de Versailles that puts the ability to end a pregnancy right up there with the country’s famous motto: "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité."

Continued: https://www.thestar.com/news/world/france-adds-abortion-rights-to-the-constitution-could-it-happen-in-canada/article_04bc5ff0-da42-11ee-959b-e3b780f9717f.html

Democrats in Ohio say they’ll need a new recipe for a second huge abortion rights win

Advocates were surprised by the results of a vote that could have made it harder to protect access to abortion — but they're not letting that make them overconfident.

Sept. 16, 2023
By Megan Lebowitz

BURTON, OHIO — Abortion rights activists shocked themselves and the Ohio political world when they resoundingly defeated an August proposal that would have made it more difficult to enshrine abortion protections in the state’s constitution.

The next test comes on Nov. 7, when voters will decide whether to adopt a constitutional amendment to preserve access to abortion in a state that has veered increasingly to the right since 2016.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/democrats-ohio-abortion-second-win-rcna103897

Abortion rights amendment qualifies for November ballot in Ohio

By Terence Burlij and Jack Forrest, CNN
Tue July 25, 2023

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Tuesday that organizers submitted enough valid signatures to put an amendment on the November ballot to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution.

“I hereby certify that petitioners submitted 495,938 total valid signatures on behalf of the proposed statewide initiative,” LaRose wrote in a letter to petitioners, clearing the hurdle of roughly 414,000 signatures required to be placed on the ballot this fall.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/25/politics/ohio-abortion-rights-amendment/index.html

25.07.2023

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Bellwether? Ohio voters back abortion rights amendment in a test case for other states

The Ohio vote on abortion this November could presage next year's battle across the U.S.

Susan Page
July 24, 2023

Sweeping support for a proposed Ohio constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights spotlights the potential power of the issue to drive voter turnout and affect races up and down the ballot, even in Republican-leaning states.

A new USA TODAY Network/Suffolk University survey of Ohio showed the amendment guaranteeing access to reproductive services backed by a double-digit margin, 58%-32%. Significant support crossed partisan lines, including a third of Republicans and a stunning 85% of independent women, a key group of persuadable voters.

Continued: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/24/ohioans-back-abortion-rights-amendment-a-test-case-for-other-states/70413318007/

24.07.2023

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After Roe, abortion activists are targeting state constitutions. Next up? Ohio.

The proposed measure would add language to the Ohio Constitution explicitly guaranteeing the right of every individual 'to make and carry out one's own reproductive decisions.'

Ingrid Jacques, USA TODAY
July 17, 2023

Get ready for the next iteration of the abortion fight: state constitutions. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, states have control over how much – or little – they want to regulate the procedure.

And those battles have played out in legislatures around the country, with red states putting strict limits in place and blue states maintaining wide access to abortion. That’s what was supposed to happen after abortion no longer was protected as a federal constitutional right.

Continued: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2023/07/17/ohio-abortion-amendment-ballot-preview-2024-election/70400191007/

17.07.2023

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In the year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ruled states should decide the legality of abortion, voters at the state level have been doing just that: 4 essential reads

June 12, 2023
Lorna Grisby, Senior Politics & Society Editor

When the Supreme Court ruled on June 24, 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that states – some of which have been chipping away at women’s access to abortion for years – should decide the legality of abortion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the court’s majority opinion that “women are not without electoral or political power.”

In one fell swoop, the court’s 6-3 ruling that abortion is not a federal constitutional right overturned Roe v. Wade, decided in 1973, and 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey – two decisions that provided federal protections for abortion.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/in-the-year-since-the-supreme-court-overturned-roe-v-wade-and-ruled-states-should-decide-the-legality-of-abortion-voters-at-the-state-level-have-been-doing-just-that-4-essential-reads-207299

Macron says will put right to abortion in French constitution in ‘coming months’

Issued on: 08/03/2023

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday his government would put forward a draft law enshrining abortion rights in the French constitution within months.

In a speech paying tribute to the late Gisele Halimi, a feminist activist and pioneer for reproductive rights, Macron said an amendment to the constitution would be submitted to parliament.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/france/20230308-macron-says-will-put-right-to-abortion-in-french-constitution-in-coming-months

08.03.2023

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France moves closer to making abortion a constitutional right

Lower house approves resolution to guarantee access to ‘the right to voluntarily end a pregnancy’

Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Thu 24 Nov 2022

France has moved a step closer to becoming the first country in the world to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right, after lawmakers approved a resolution in the lower house to guarantee access to “the right to voluntarily end a pregnancy”.

In a rare cross-party move, members of parliament from the left’s La France Insoumise party and Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition agreed on the wording of a clause that could be added to the constitution. It read: “The law guarantees the effectiveness and equal access to the right to voluntarily end a pregnancy.”

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/24/france-moves-closer-to-making-abortion-a-constitutional-right

France takes 1st step to add abortion right to constitution

Sylvie Corbet, Associated Press
November 24, 2022

PARIS – Lawmakers in France's lower house of parliament on Thursday adopted a bill to enshrine abortion rights in the country’s constitution, the first step in a lengthy and uncertain legislative battle prompted by the rollback of abortion rights in the United States.

The measure was approved with 337 lawmakers voting for and 32 against in the 557-member National Assembly. To be added into the constitution, any measure must be first approved by majorities in the National Assembly and the upper house, the Senate, and then in a nationwide referendum.

Continued: https://www.clickondetroit.com/health/2022/11/24/france-debates-enshrining-abortion-rights-in-constitution/

24.11.2022

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California: What constitutional law experts say about the abortion ballot measure

BY MELODY GUTIERREZ
OCT. 14, 2022

SACRAMENTO — With favorable polls and a pile of cash on hand, supporters of the California ballot measure to add abortion rights directly into the state Constitution have enjoyed an easy road in this election thus far. Gov. Gavin Newsom is using at least $2 million of his own campaign funds to air ads supporting Proposition 1, and supporters featured Hillary Clinton on a panel Thursday discussing the importance of further solidifying California’s abortion rights.

But the smooth sailing would end if it’s passed, the small and underdog opposition campaign is promising ahead of the Nov. 8 election.

Continued: https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2022-10-14/california-politics-abortion-measure-gas-taxes-ca-politics