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France National Assembly votes in favour of including right to abortion in constitution – JURIST

The National Assembly of France passed a constitutional bill on Tuesday to incorporate the right to abortion into the French Constitution. The bill for “the freedom to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy” was debated in the National Assembly and then passed 493-30.The passage of this bill comes just under a year after the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, expressed his support for the constitutionalization of the right to abortion on March 8, 2023, International Women’s Day. He stated that this would send “a universal message of solidarity to all women.” 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.The bill further states that while the freedom to get an abortion is not directly threatened in France, they wish to protect it at a higher level. It highlighted the restrictions on abortion in the US, citing the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade. France now wishes to include the right to abortion in their Constitution. Doing so would “enshrine it in the highest level of our hierarchy of standards, thus protecting it from any challenges by the law.”The National Assembly is the lower house of the French government, and in order to become a part of the Constitution, the Senate must also pass the bill. Following this, a body composed of both houses will meet again to adopt the bill.