France Makes History: Abortion Is a Constitutional Right

On Monday, France approved to include in its Constitution, the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG). The congress meeting at Versailles concluded with an approval of 780 votes to 72 votes.

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France is the first country to guarantee the IVG as a Constitutional Right. In the Place du Trocadéro thousnads of people waited live for the votes and their final result.

According to Lola Paoli, communications manager of the Women’s Foundation, "It is a very powerful message that we are sending to women around the world".

The official paragraph added to the Constitutions reads: "The law determines the conditions under which the freedom guaranteed to women to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy is exercised".

The addition required three fifths of the votes cast, but since the good number of positive votes in the National Assembly and the Senate, the decision was not a surprise, but, in the words of Yaël Braun-Pivet, the first woman to preside over the National Assembly, that is "an important moment for women around the world".

The final decision of Congress is the result of 18 months after the refusal of the United States Supreme Court that does not guarantee the right to abortion.

The struggle for women’s rights is not vindicated, Loona Mourenas, first vice president of the General Federation of Student Associations. In his words: "This is historic for women’s rights, but the struggle will never end. The threat will always be present, particularly with the rise of the far right".