The right to abortion in France hardly seems under threat – it has been inscribed in law for 47 years and enjoys broad support across the political spectrum.
But more and more French women are now asking: Could what happened in the US happen here one day?
The decision by the US Supreme Court to strip women of the right to abortion has reverberated across Europe’s political landscape, forcing the issue back into public debate in France at a time of political upheaval.
With women increasingly taking leadership positions in French politics, those in both houses of parliament have proposed four Bills to enshrine the right to abortion in the French constitution in order to defend it from future threats.
The most notable initiative comes from President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance. His detractors on the left say Mr Macron’s party is being opportunist, while far-right critics accuse it of using the issue to distract from more pressing matters.
Abortion in France was decriminalised under a 1975 law named for Simone Veil, a prominent politician, former health minister and key feminist who championed it.
In her debut address to the chamber last week, Yael Braun-Pivet, the first woman elected speaker of the National Assembly, France’s most powerful house of parliament, made the inscription of abortion rights into the French constitution a top priority.
“This right was fought for and was inalienable,” she said.
“It is my conviction as a woman today that we need to be the watchdog so that it stays in place forever.”
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has also expressed concerns over the potential effects of the US Supreme Court’s decision on recent efforts to recriminalise abortion in Europe.
Ms Borne, only the second woman in French history to have been appointed prime minister, called the reversal of abortion rights in the US a “historical turn in the wrong direction”.
After meeting health care providers and reproductive health specialists in Paris last week, she said: “It’s a stark warning that women’s rights should never be taken for granted.”
She called for inscribing these rights into the French constitution and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The European Union’s parliament adopted a resolution on Thursday condemning the US decision and urging the addition of a sentence reading “Everyone has a right to safe and legal abortion” to the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Abortion is legal and practiced without much political opposition in most EU nations, but is banned in Malta and sharply restricted in Poland.
In France, a poll this week found a solid majority of respondents support the right to abortion, even including most voters who support Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party and the conservative Republicans. The results were consistent with past surveys.
However the effort to inscribe abortion rights in the French constitution may not succeed if Mr Macron’s political rivals decide they do not want to give him an easy win.
Mr Macron’s party lost its majority in the National Assembly in last month’s election, while the leftist Nupes coalition became the biggest opposition force and Ms Le Pen’s National Rally won a record number of seats.
“The right to abortion is not questioned by anyone,” Ms Le Pen said on France-Info radio last week. Still, she blasted efforts to cement abortion rights in the constitution, accusing Mr Macron’s allies of “political diversion”.
She said: “They want to shift the focus from the main concerns for French people, which are purchasing power, security and out-of-control immigration.”
On the far left, politicians noted that Mr Macron’s party dismissed earlier efforts to enshrine abortion in the constitution.
Mathilde Panot, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed parliamentary group, is now pushing Ms Borne to propose a government Bill on the issue instead of a Bill that originated in parliament, which would speed up the process.
Last year, French politicians passed a law extending the abortion deadline from 12 to 14 weeks and allowing midwives to perform the procedure.
Feminist activists marched last weekend in Paris to show solidarity with American women and support French efforts to seek constitutional guarantees.
“People think that women will always have this right but considering the rise of conservative political and religious movements, we have our doubts,” said Violaine De Filippis, a Parisian lawyer and feminist activist who joined the march.
