(Jan. 30, 2024)
French lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill (Jan. 29) to enshrine abortion rights in France’s Constitution, the first step in a complex legislative process that began in direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade.
The bill, proposed by President Emmanuel Macron and his government, was passed by the National Assembly, the lower and more powerful house of France’s Parliament, with 493 votes in favor and 30 against. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal called the vote a “great victory.”
Unlike in the United States, most of France’s political parties broadly support the right to abortion, which was legalized in 1975, and there is no immediate or serious threat to its legality. Putting that right into the Constitution would not change the availability of abortion in France, where both residents and foreigners can terminate pregnancies.