France extends the deadline for abortion from 12 to 14 weeks

French lawmakers have voted to extend the deadline before which a woman can get an abortion from 12 to 14 weeks in one last reform before presidential elections in April.

A protester holds a banner reading \\\"My body, My choice\\\" during a demonstration in Paris on January 17, 2015 to defend women's rights, to improve access to abortion and to mark the 40th anniversary of the Veil Law legalising abortion in France. LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP

The reformed law was tabled after a number of pregnancy termination centers were closed throughout France. It was also necessitated by lack of medical professionals who can perform the procedure in France's so-called 'medical deserts'.

The bill was first put to lawmakers in October 2020 by Albane Gaillot, then a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s République en Marche (REM) party. Parliamentary head Christophe Castaner, also of REM, pushed for its passage.

Macron himself has not been a big proponent of its passing, but said last year that he “would respect the freedom of parliamentarians.”

“When an idea is good, it is neither right nor left," Gaillot told French news agency AFP.

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The text had backing from Socialist opposition MP Marie-Noëlle Battistel, who said that 2,000 women would be forced to go abroad every year to have an abortion after exceeding the legal time limits in France.

For her, by extending the period to 14 weeks, very young, vulnerable women without access to health information, who do not have means of transport, or have been victims of sexual violence will benefit for the new law.

Midwives will also be able practice pregnancy termination as well. The bill initially allowed doctors to opt out of performing the procedure due to a clause that would allow them to follow their beliefs on abortion, but that was eliminated before the final draft.

The law angered activists of Alliance Vita, an international group against abortion and the right to commit suicide, who tried to influence the Senate and National Assembly in an effort to make the bill fail.

Overall, in a recent poll, French citizens remain overwhelmingly in favor of the right to abortion. Abortion laws are being challenged across Europe, especially in eastern countries

 In the majority of European countries, medical practitioners can perform pregnancy terminations only up to 12 weeks.