French MPs vote to enshrine abortion rights in constitution

France has taken a first step in guaranteeing abortion rights for women after a standing committee of MPs voted in favour of making abortion a constitutional right. However the move could ultimately be blocked by the senate.

A demonstrator holds a placard that reads "Never Again" during an abortion rights rally in Toulouse, France on September 28, 2022. AFP - CHARLY TRIBALLEAU

A designated group of French MPs approved on Wednesday a constitutional bill which would protect the right to abortion against possible challenges, as seen in the US.

The bill would add a new article "66-2" to the constitution: "No woman may be deprived of the right to voluntary interruption of pregnancy".

It was tabled by Aurore Bergé – the head of President Macron's Renaissance group in the national assembly.

A previous version of the bill had the wording: "No one may be deprived". But Bergé said she wanted to clarify the amendment so that only women directly concerned could assert the right to abortion and not "third parties who would like to impose it on them".

The bill will now be examined in a public session of parliament on 28 November.

Inscription de l'#IVG dans notre Constitution : notre proposition de loi est adoptée en commission ✅️

Un pas historique ce matin à l'Assemblée nationale ! pic.twitter.com/aBsOcGSdjL

— Les Députés Renaissance (@DeputesRE) November 9, 2022

Another MP, Mathilde Panot, from the hard-left France Unbowed party has tabled a similar amendment but which also includes making contraception a constitutional right. It will be examined in parliament on 16 November.

Such initiatives were launched following the US supreme court's decision in June to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling which recognised a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

• After US supreme court ruling, French lawmakers move to enshrine abortion rights in constitution

Bergé's bill enjoys cross party support, but some MPs, notably from the rightwing Republicans and far-right National Rally (RN), are staunchly opposed. 

"The right to abortion is not at all threatened in France," said RN lawmaker Pascale Bordes, criticising a wording that "suggests that access must be unconditional and absolute".

Senate hurdle

The majority of French legislation begins in the lower house (national assembly) but changes to the constitution can be proposed by either the lower or upper chamber.

The first attempt at enshrining abortion rights into the constitution came from Mélanie Vogel – a senator for the French Greens (EELV).

She said it was not just about the US: "This is also about Europe – abortion rights have been pushed back in Poland and Hungary and could be at risk in Italy."

Despite being co-signed by senators from seven of the senate's eight political groups, her proposal was rejected on 19 October, largely due to rightwing senators who hold a majority there.

An Ifop poll for the Fondation Jean Jaurès this summer found that more than 80 percent of people in France, from across the political spectrum, support the protecting of abortion rights under the constitution.

If the bill does become law, France would become the first country in the world to make abortion a constitutional right.