A video-grab of the iconic Eiffel Tower with lights saying “My Body, My Choice” after France became the first country on earth to enshrine abortion in its Constitution on March 4.
France became the first country to guarantee abortion rights in its constitution on Monday, when lawmakers from both houses of its Parliament voted 780 to 72 in favour of the measure.
Both the Senate and Assembly had approved the measure earlier, and Monday’s vote, at a special meeting at the Palace of Versailles, turned it into a law. Amending the French constitution requires a minimum three fifths majority.
The move is seen as a clear signal of French support on reproductive rights at a time when abortion is being challenged in various parts of the west, including the US. The French step comes despite the opposition of the Church, with the Vatican declaring that “in the era of universal human rights, there can be no ‘right’ to take human life.”
“My Body, My Choice” said the lights on the iconic Eiffel Tower soon after the law was announced. After the text is authenticated by a “seal of congress” and sent to the government. President Emmanuel Macron’s office said the formal ceremony to mark the amendment would be held on Friday, International Women’s Rights Day.
Abortion has been legal in France since 1975, and this new measure is seen as a way of further protecting that right, particularly after the US Supreme Court overturned the against Roe v. Wade verdict in 2022, and let states individually decide on the emotive issue.
“We are haunted by the suffering and memory of so many women who were not free. We owe a moral debt [to all the women who] suffered in their flesh,” French prime minister, Gabriel Attal told a gathering at the palace earlier in the day. “Today, the present must respond to history. To enshrine this right in our constitution is to close the door on the tragedy of the past and its trail of suffering and pain. It will further prevent reactionaries from attacking women.
“Let’s not forget that the train of oppression can happen again. Let’s act to ensure that it doesn’t, that it never comes this day,” he said. “I say to all women within our borders and beyond, that today, the era of a world of hope begins.”
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