On Wednesday, the French Senate adopted a constitutional bill which includes the right to abortion in the French constitution. The Bill received 267 votes in favor and 50 opposed.
The amendment seeks to integrate freedom for voluntary termination of pregnancy in Article 34 of the French constitution. As of now, Article 34 governs the Parliament’s responsibility to regulate civil rights, the criminal justice system, and electoral laws. However, under the new bill, the Article will stipulate a legislative obligation to establish conditions for the free decision to terminate a pregnancy. Furthermore, reported local media stated that two amendments to the bill were rejected by the Senate by a difference of more than 100 votes. The rejected amendments were a proposal to delete the word “guarantee” from the bill and introduce a clause permitting health professionals to refuse performing an abortion should it violate their conscience.
The bill was passed by the French National Assembly in January, and was adopted in identical terms by the Senate. For the constitutional amendment to take effect, it must be approved by a three-fifths majority of the votes cast when the Parliament convenes in Congress, as stated in Article 89 of the French constitution. French President Emmanuel Macron plans to convene the Parliament in Congress on March 4.
Those proposing the bill expressed the desire to safeguard the right to abortion in light of the reversal of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Mathilde Panot, the president of the French left-wing party La France Insoumise, proclaimed that France will be the first nation to constitutionally guarantee the right to an abortion once this bill is fully enacted.