France's Senate is set to vote on a bill on Wednesday that aims to enshrine a woman's right to an abortion in the constitution. This measure was promised by President Emmanuel Macron in response to recent developments in the United States. The National Assembly had previously approved the proposal in January with overwhelming support.
The proposed constitutional change seeks to amend Article 34 of the constitution to specify that 'the law determines the conditions by which the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed, is exercised.' While a majority of senators seem to support the change, some conservatives have raised concerns about the wording of the bill, potentially affecting the outcome of the vote.
If the Senate passes the bill in its current form, it will require final approval by a three-fifths majority in a joint session of parliament, typically held at the Palace of Versailles. However, if the Senate makes amendments or rejects the proposal, it will need to go back to the National Assembly for further discussion.
All major political parties in France's parliament support the right to abortion, which was decriminalized in 1975. The government argues that recent events in the United States, where a 50-year-old ruling guaranteeing the right to abortion was overturned, highlight the need to protect this fundamental right.
The bill's introduction also references developments in Poland, where a controversial tightening of abortion laws sparked protests. In 2020, the Polish constitutional court ruled that women could no longer terminate pregnancies in cases of severe fetal deformities, including Down Syndrome.
