French MPs vote to include abortion rights in constitution
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Lawmakers have voted in France today on "The law guarantees the effectiveness and equal access to the right to voluntarily end a pregnancy."
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An abortion-rights protest in Grenoble, France, on May 11, 1973 (Getty Images)
On Thursday, lawmakers in the French parliament voted on adding to the constitution the right to abortion, following the recent changes that took place in Poland and the United States.
Parliament members from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party and the ruling centrist coalition came to an agreement on the wording of the new clause, which passed with a huge majority.
"The law guarantees the effectiveness and equal access to the right to voluntarily end a pregnancy" read the proposed constitutional addition.
337 votes approved the clause, while only 32 voted against it, and the bill is now set to be sent to the conservative-majority Senate for approval.
French MPs said the initiative was prompted by the US Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade legislation nationwide.
Abortion in France was legalized in 1974 in a law championed by health minister Simone Veil, who France sees as an icon of feminism, who was granted by French President Emmanuel Macron the rare honor of burial at the Pantheon when she died in 2018.
The Senate rejected in October a previous attempt to inscribe the right to abortion and contraception into the constitution in France.
Today's attempt will also need the upper chamber's approval and must then be voted on in a national referendum.
The US Supreme Court overturned back in June Roe v. Wade, a law granting American women the right to abortion. The court ruled that states may regulate abortion practices according to the court's written opinion.
Meanwhile, Poland's government heavily restricted abortion access for the country's women in recent months.
