France is the first country to make the right to abortion a constitutional right. This afternoon, French lawmakers are expected to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution.

You might have heard about it already. France’s lower house National Assembly approved the bill in January. There was some resistance in the Senate which leans towards the right. But last week, the Senate approved the bill. So now, today, there will be a combined vote of both chambers - and it looks like the three fifths majority - needed for the adoption - should be achieved.

France decriminalised abortion in 1975 - when Simone Veil was health minister, an icon of women’s rights. France was among the first countries to introduce abortion rights. The UK was even earlier, adopting abortion rights in 1967. It took Germany until 95 though, and still today, abortion is less accessible because doctors aren’t allowed to advertise abortion which makes information less accessible. So that’s one of the current fights of German feminists.

Amid countries such as Poland and the US trying to restrict abortion rights, this is an important sign to the rest of the world. Several parties in France, started pushing for this constitutional change, after the US turned over the Roe v Wade ruling in 2022. The US supreme court decision opened the door for US states to ignore the national right to abortion and introduce regional bans.

But it also ensures that the right is not going to be threatened by future political decisions. And if there IS a constitutional Right, the state of France must also make sure that this right is accessible, that abortion is accessible. So far, in many countries, women technically have the right to abortion, but they don’t find information or they don’t find a doctor who’d perform the operation.

Photo: Matt Hrkac via flickr