Vatican opposes inclusion of abortion rights in French constitution

The Vatican has stated its opposition to France inscribing the right to abortion in its constitution, as debate continues over an amendment in a country that retains a strong Catholic tradition despite its official secularism.

Pope Francis at the Vatican, 7 February 2024. While he has not said anything specifically about France's move towards including the right to abortion in its constitution, an editorial published Thursday lays out the Vatican's position against it. © Gregorio Borgia/AP

France is “moving towards a constitution against life,” reads an editorial published by the Vatican, signed by Massimiliano Menichetti, head of Radio Vatican and Vatican News.

The Pope has not officially commented on the proposed constitutional amendment, but the editorial can be considered an official position of the Vatican, which remains staunchly against abortion.

“How is it possible to enshrine a norm that allows the death of a person in the fundamental charter of a state while at the same time protecting the human person?” asks the editorial, recalling Pope Francis’s statements against abortion in September 2021, in which he called it murder.

Menichetti wrote that embryos continue to be treated as “materials and not people”.

French bishops concerned

In an address to the faithful in Marseille in September 2023, Pope Francis spoke generally about the “tragedy of discarding human life”, whether it’s ignoring the plight of migrants or protecting unborn children.

The editorial calls for policies to support women “economically, legally, psychologically, religiously, and socially at the dramatic moment when abortion seems to be the only solution.”

• French lawmakers vote to enshrine abortion rights in constitution

In November, the French bishops’ conference reiterated its concern about the right to abortion being included in the constitution.

The latest version of the constitutional amendment was approved by the National Assembly at the end of January, and will now be debated and voted on in the Senate at the end of February.

If the two chambers can agree on a text, it will be put to a vote at a special gathering of both chambers of parliament, who would need to approve it with a three-fifths majority.