As US Backslides, French Celebrate Historic Abortion Protections

As U.S. President Joe Biden garnered fresh condemnation from rights advocates for his latest comments on abortion care on Monday, the Place du Trocadero in Paris was crowded with people celebrating an overwhelming vote by French lawmakers in favor of enshrining abortion rights in their country's constitution.

The French Parliament voted 780-72 to add an amendment to the constitution stating that there is a "guaranteed freedom" to obtain abortion care in France.

"The law determines the conditions by which is exercised the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed," the amendment reads.

Demonstrating that the fight to protect abortion rights "has no borders," several legislators wore green scarves to the vote, symbolizing solidarity with the "Green Wave" that has seen advocates successfully push for reproductive freedom in Latin American countries.

The vote made France the first country to affirm a constitutional right to abortion care since 1974, when the former Yugoslavia amended its constitution.

The move was applauded by the United Nations high commissioner on human rights.

Abortion was first made legal in France—albeit without a constitutional right—in 1975, and the right is supported by more than 80% of the public.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the two houses of Parliament sent "a message to all women: your body belongs to you."

French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti suggested the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning in 2022 of Roe v. Wade, which for nearly five decades had affirmed that people in the U.S. had the right to abortion care, made it clear that amending the French constitution was necessary to reflect the values of the vast majority of people in France.

“We now have irrefutable proof that no democracy, not even the largest of them all, is immune" to attacks on reproductive rights, he said.

The Eiffel Tower was emblazoned with the words, "My body, my choice" as supporters rallied in Paris to mark the historic vote—but across the Atlantic Ocean, an interview with Biden in The New Yorker included a comment in which the president, who has repeatedly said he has personal objections to abortion care but believes Roe should have been upheld, denigrated the idea embraced by the French lawmakers.

"I've never been supportive of, you know, 'It's my body, I can do what I want with it," Biden told the magazine, sparking renewed anger among reproductive justice advocates.

Biden's comments came weeks after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that a frozen embryo created via in vitro fertilization had the same rights as a living child, prompting some Republicans to attempt to distance themselves from the decision even as supporters of forced pregnancy and "fetal personhood" laws openly embraced it.

Nearly half of U.S. states now ban abortion care or restrict it earlier in pregnancy than the standard set by Roe v. Wade. At least 15 states ban the procedure in "almost all circumstances," according toThe New York Times. Republicans have advocated for a nationwide 15-week abortion ban, and former President Donald Trump—now the presumptive GOP presidential nominee—reportedly supports a 16-week ban.

Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said the vote in France on Monday was "of huge significance given the rollback of this essential right around the world."

"The United States has shown how devastatingly dangerous and retrogressive it is to undermine abortion as a right," said Callamard. "In Europe, there are still countries such as Poland and Andorra, where access to abortion is highly restricted and where those fighting for this right face prosecution. Today's vote in France should pave the way for stronger protection of access to abortion elsewhere."

"Enshrining abortion in the constitution is a high-water mark for women's rights and a testament to years of tireless campaigning by so many," she added. "It sends a message of hope and solidarity to women's groups and to all defenders of abortion and other sexual and reproductive rights."