France will be the first country to include the right to abort in its constitution, which will send a strong signal to women around the world, Albane Gaillot, an advocacy officer at Planning Familial, told EURACTIV.
This Tuesday marks the 48th anniversary of the Veil law which saw abortion decriminalised and then provided for in French law.
At the end of November, the National Assembly adopted a bill to enshrine the right to abortion in the Constitution. The bill is now expected in the Senate on 1 February 2023. For sexual and reproductive rights and women’s rights associations, it is essential that access to abortion be enshrined in the Constitution.
“It is important because it means that the right to abortion is recognised as a fundamental right,” Gaillot said.
Beyond a strong symbolism, enshrining the right to abortion in the Constitution would guarantee access to abortion regardless of the political majority in power.
“What is allowed by law can be undone by another law. We need to reaffirm the protection we want to give to abortion,” France Insoumise (LFI) MP Mathilde Panot told EURACTIV.
“This is an additional guarantee,” confirmed Gaillot. “We saw it in the US: the will of one man can lead to a reversal of the situation.”
On 24 June 2022, the US Supreme Court revoked the constitutional right to abortion, leaving it up to each state to decide whether to maintain this right or not.
To protect the right to abortion in Europe, MEPs called in a resolution adopted last July for the right to abortion to be enshrined in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The MEPs’ request must now be examined by the European Council, but the subject is divided across member states and unanimity seems unlikely.
Indeed, although abortion is legal almost everywhere in Europe, several “obstacles” and “specific restrictions” are still in place in some countries, a press release from 70 women’s rights associations underlined last June.
In Malta, abortion is totally prohibited and women who undergo the procedure or buy abortion tablets risk up to three years in prison. Changes are afoot however with the law set to be modified to allow doctors to carry out medical procedures on a pregnant woman even if it risks the life of the fetus, something that was previously illegal under any circumstances.
Since last September, women in Hungary who want to have an abortion are being forced to listen to the foetus’ heartbeat before being given access to fundamental healthcare.
(Clara Bauer-Babef | EURACTIV.fr)
Source: euractiv.com
