France’s parliament voted Monday to include the right to abortion in the Constitution of France. The draft law was registered in December 2023 and has been adopted by lawmakers with some amendments. This is a monumental move, marking the first time in history the right to abortion has been enshrined into a country’s constitution.
The bill constitutionalizes the voluntary termination of pregnancy under Article 34, affirming that parliament establishes the conditions under which this freedom is exercised. It, therefore, bases the guarantee of the freedom of abortion on the constitution itself.
Three-fifths of both houses of parliament, totaling 512 votes, were needed for the law to be adopted. The law passed with a vote of 780-72. The National Assembly, France’s first house of parliament, approved the draft law in January by a vote of 493-30.
The explanatory memorandum of the original draft highlighted that the June 2022 US Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v. Wade demonstrated that the rights and freedoms that are most precious to us can be threatened even though they seem firmly established. Therefore, while the right to abortion is not questioned in France, this addition to the constitution protects it from future threats.
This aligns with international law as the right to abortion has been recognized by a number of international bodies, including the UN, which states that access to abortion services is “part of State obligations to eliminate discrimination against women and to ensure women’s right to health.”
Women’s rights groups have lauded the move. La Fondation des Femmes wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the vote is a “historic and unprecedented victory in more than one way,” while the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) European Network voiced that “the overwhelming majority vote today in Congress is a win for feminist movements and a resounding message to the rest of the world: abortion is a fundamental freedom.”
Anti-abortion groups, on the other hand, have criticized this step, with the National Association of Catholic Families (CNAFC) stating that “there can be no right to take human life.” The decision to enshrine a right to abortion in the constitution aligns with general public opinion; however, Marine Le Pen, a far-right party leader, criticized the President, arguing that this is no real victory, as French people already supported the right.
