According to reports, both houses of France have guaranteed abortion rights through the constitution by an overwhelming margin. The conservative Senate passed the bill 267-50 last week, and the House of Representatives passed the bill 493-30 in January, with far more votes in favor of the bill. They decided that women should be guaranteed the right to voluntarily terminate their pregnancies. As the constitution guarantees abortion rights, it will be more difficult to restrict abortion to lower-level laws. Senator Melanie Vogel of the French Green Party, who led the provision of the abortion rights constitution, said, “The right to abortion is shrinking after the Conservative government was established in the U.S. and Poland. In France, the constitution guarantees abortion rights, making it difficult to restrict abortion even if a Conservative government is established.” Vogel explained that the provision of the constitution on abortion rights means that France sees it as important for women to make choices about their bodies as one of the conditions for a free and equal society. He added that it was important to state it in the constitution right now as the far-right is gradually gaining power in France. France legalized abortion earlier in 1975. The law was enacted at the suggestion of Simone Beille, then a famous feminist health minister. In recognition of his achievement, he was buried at the Pantheon in Paris after his death in 2017. Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and Victor Hugo, the great writer of France, are buried at the site. It is known that the phrase “My Fatherland thanks great people” is engraved on the entrance under a triangle relief. In France, abortion is possible until the 14th week of pregnancy with the National Health Insurance. The U.S. Supreme Court overturns precedents The stipulation of the constitution is based on decades of efforts by feminist groups and female politicians. In particular, as the conservative U.S. Supreme Court overturned the previous Supreme Court case in May 2022, denying that abortion is a right guaranteed by the Constitution, efforts to stipulate the constitution have doubled in France. French President Emmanuel Macron also rejected his previous position that it is unnecessary to stipulate the constitution of abortion rights after overturning the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. President Macron has since backed suggestions by major left-wing politicians including Vogel all in the way to stipulate the constitution. However, it is premature to rest assured that it is stipulated by the Constitution. In France, it is not possible to change the constitution through a referendum, but only if more than three-fifths of the seats in the House and Senate approve it. If the ruling party decides to, it is relatively easy to revise the constitution. Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Coalition for Women, has been vague about abortion, but she has approved the inclusion of a constitutional provision. Le Pen and 45 NP lawmakers approved the constitutional guarantee of abortion rights. Only 12 opposed it, while 14 abstained.
SALLY LEE
US ASIA JOURNAL
