At the end of a battle of rare violence in the Hemicycle, the Veil law was promulgated on January 17, 1975, finally decriminalizing abortion in France. Half a century later, abortion remains a struggle. Won through a hard struggle by women and feminists, this right is extremely fragile as it is attacked head-on by pro-life activists and other fundamentalists, and abused by the weakness of the financial resources granted to it. The debates which agitated the Senate around the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution demonstrate that nothing is taken for granted. This political ambition came up against a wall of inaction to the point of distorting the proposed transpartisan law of 2022. The government is presenting, this January 24, to the Assembly, a text where abortion would certainly be constitutionalized but under the the name “guaranteed freedom”. Let’s hope that this fragile compromise can succeed.
Its adoption would be a symbol beyond our borders, at a time when the use of abortion is prohibited in many countries or subject to the wrath of conservative revolutions which trample on the rights and freedoms of women. Let’s also hope that the Senate hears the message. Its president, Gérard Larcher, would also be well advised to read and understand what the Basic Law is, he who dared to declare that it is not intended to be “a catalog of social and societal rights” in order to justify the reactionary postures of the right. No offense to him, the Constitution enshrines “fundamental rights and freedoms, and defines the terms of their protection”.
The inclusion of abortion in the Constitution does not set it in stone. Feminists and left-wing parliamentarians are aware of this but, rightly, they consider that it would constitute an additional form of protection against the attacks and restrictions that the latter undergoes. Emmanuel Macron must clarify his position. He cannot present himself as the defender of the right to abortion, and appoint as head of the Ministry of Health Catherine Vautrin, who, in 2017, voted against the extension of the crime of digital obstruction to abortion. Women’s rights cannot suffer any ” at the same time “.
