Paris (AFP)
On the eve of the International Day for the Right to Abortion, a series of measures to facilitate women's access to voluntary termination of pregnancy regardless of their region were announced Friday evening by Health Minister Agnès Buzyn.
A survey of regional health agencies (ARS) shows that although the average delay in France between the request of the woman and the act itself is 7.4 days on average at the national level, it varies from 3 to 11 days depending on the region, always on average.
The study stresses that if there are no "white zones" in terms of access to abortion, there are territories "in tension" in the majority of regions, either because of the demography of professionals during the summer months.
This heterogeneity has led the Minister to decide on new measures to "reinforce equal access to abortion throughout the country".
Instrumental IVGs can be performed in health centers as early as the first quarter of 2020, and access to IVG will be included as one of the evaluation criteria for hospitals in target contracts linking them to the ARS.
Other measures include the priority registration of abortion in the continuing education of doctors and midwives or the establishment of a directory of abortion services in each region, updated to take into account seasonality.
"I am and will always be attentive to access to abortion, it is a fundamental right and women must be able to receive and be followed in the conditions of serenity and security they need. says the minister in the statement.
Meetings are scheduled to take place Saturday in several cities to support the right to abortion, including a demonstration in Paris at 14h from the Tenon Hospital in the twentieth arrondissement.
© 2019 AFP