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

Italy’s Meloni plays down G7 abortion row

June 15, 2024
By Kathryn Armstrong, BBC News

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says a suspected row over the absence of the word "abortion" in a G7 statement has been blown out of proportion.

She issued the response after a commitment made last year by G7 nations to address access to "safe and legal abortion" was left out of the final statement at this year's summit in Italy.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c511x7j9j0eo

15.06.2024

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/

Abortion rights at issue in European elections

Abortion rights are featuring in this year’s European election campaign in a way we have not seen before.

MAGDALENA FRENNHOFF LARSÉN
15th March 2024

The recent landmark decision in France to inscribe the right to abortion in the constitution serves to protect the law that first legalised abortion in the country in 1975. This law—the so-called Veil law—was championed by Simone Veil, one of France’s most admired and respected political figures, and an icon of the women’s-rights movement.

In 1974, Veil, a magistrate who had been asked by the French president, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, to serve as health minister in his government, delivered a momentous speech. She presented the public-health case for the decriminalisation of abortion to the National Assembly, which at the time was composed almost entirely of men.

Continued: https://www.socialeurope.eu/abortion-rights-at-issue-in-european-elections

15.03.2024

Commentary

Alternative for Germany

Emmanuel Macron

European parliamentEuropean parliament

European People’s Party

European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights

Abortion rights are featuring in this year’s European election campaign in a way we’ve not seen before

March 13, 2024
Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén

The recent landmark decision in France to inscribe the right to abortion in the constitution serves to protect the law that first legalised abortion in the country in 1975. This law – the so-called Veil law – was championed by Simone Veil, one of France’s most admired and respected political figures, and an icon of the women’s rights movement.

In 1974, Veil, a magistrate who had been asked by French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing to serve as health minister in his government, delivered a momentous speech. She presented the public health case for the decriminalisation of abortion to the National Assembly, which at the time was composed almost entirely of men.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/abortion-rights-are-featuring-in-this-years-european-election-campaign-in-a-way-weve-not-seen-before-225714

13.03.2024

Commentary

abortion law reform

Alternative for Germany

Emmanuel Macron

EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

Simone Veil

Simone Veil Pact

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing

Europe’s liberals, Greens say abortion must be a right in EU charter

10 Mar, 2024

Senior figures from the Green and liberal factions in the European Parliament have spoken in favour of including the right to abortion in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, echoing a call by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Green parliamentary group leader Terry Reintke and Valérie Hayer, who is the leader of the liberal Renew group, spoke to Germany’s RND media group for an interview published on Sunday. “The right to safe abortion belongs in the EU Charter as a fundamental right,” said Reintke, a German politician who has served as a member of the European Parliament since 2014.

Continued; https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3254849/europes-liberals-greens-say-abortion-must-be-right-eu-charter

10.03.2024

News

Emmanuel Macron

EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

French parliament considers constitutionalization of right to abortion

Parliamentarians in France begin discussing a motion to enshrine the right to abortion into the constitution, offering stronger protections of women’s health rights

January 26, 2024
by Peoples Health Dispatch

On Wednesday, January 24, the French parliament began considering incorporating the right to abortion into the constitution. This initiative follows the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, dealing a significant blow to women in the US. One of the earliest proposals came from parliamentarian Mathilde Panot of La France Insoumise in 2022, with President Emmanuel Macron vowing to protect abortion care last year.

The idea of constitutionalizing abortion enjoys widespread support among the public and parties of the left. On the other hand, Gérard Larcher from the conservative party Les Républicains, the current president of the French Senate, commented that the move is unnecessary as women in France already have adequate access to abortion, and their reproductive rights are secured.

Continued: https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/26/french-parliament-considers-constitutionalization-of-right-to-abortion/

26.01.2024

Stephanie Hennette-Vauchez

‘It was a wake-up call’: After Roe v. Wade, French lawmakers seek to enshrine abortion rights

By Maya Szaniecki and Claudia Colliva, CNN
Sat December 2, 2023

When the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, French women were paying close attention. They watched with alarm as those across the Atlantic lost their long-standing right to abortion, seemingly overnight. What if France came next?

“It was a wake-up call for everyone,” French Senator Mélanie Vogel told CNN. “We don’t want to wake up like American women… with this right being taken from us,” she said.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/02/europe/us-overturn-of-roe-v-wade-prompts-france-to-embed-abortion-rights-in-constitution/index.html

Macron moves to add abortion to France’s constitution, reacting to U.S.

By Karla Adam
November 3, 2023

President Emmanuel Macron on Friday submitted language for an amendment that would make France the first country to enshrine a right to abortion in its constitution.

Macron has declared on social media that by next year “the right of women to choose abortion will become irreversible.”

The push comes in direct response to the restriction of abortion rights in the United States.

Unlocked: https://wapo.st/3SlC1x7

03.11.2023

Adam Winkler

Emmanuel Macron

enshrining abortion rights in constitution

Mathilde Philip-Gay

Stéphanie Hennette Vauchez

This is what abortion rights look like around the world (and where the UK stands)

France is set to enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in its constitution.

By Charley Ross

2 November 2023

In a promising step forward for women's empowerment, French president Emmanuel Macron has promised that a woman's right to abortion will be “enshrined” irreversibly into the country's constitution by next year.

“In 2024, women's freedom to have an abortion will be irreversible,” he posted on social media over the weekend, adding details of how this legislation will come into place.

Continued: https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/abortion-rights-guide-uk-world

02.11.2023