One more step has been taken. The National Assembly adopted by an overwhelming majority, Tuesday January 30, the reform carried out by the government aimed at including in the Constitution a "guaranteed freedom" for women to have recourse to abortion, returning the ball to the court of the Senate, where the chosen wording is far from achieving consensus.

“The law determines the conditions under which the freedom guaranteed to a woman to have recourse to” an abortion is exercised. The wording proposed by the government was validated to the loud applause of the deputies, against a backdrop of concern over the challenges to this right in the United States and in certain European countries.

“This evening the Assembly and the government did not miss their meeting with the History of women [...], with History in short,” greeted the Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti.

"Integrating #abortion into the Constitution means moving from the Declaration of Human Rights to human rights, it means stating that the masculine is not neutral, and that freedom is expressed on our bodies in a different way", rejoices @sandrousseau. #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/zIwwewYn9X

— LCP (@LCP) January 30, 2024

The constitutional reform was supported by 493 deputies against 30. All left-wing elected officials and almost all of the majority and the independent Liot group voted for.

Reluctance on the right and the far right

On the right, the LR group was divided between 40 for, 15 against and four abstentions. Just like the RN (46 for, 12 against and 14 abstentions).

On the LR side, several deputies are concerned about an imbalance in relation to the Veil law, between "the possibility for women to have recourse to abortion and respect for human beings from the beginning of their life", according to MP Émilie Bonnivard (LR).

Read alsoIn France, the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution far from being acquired

Some are also concerned about possible extensions of the legal duration for an abortion or challenges to the conscience clause of caregivers refusing to practice it, without the Constitutional Council being able to oppose it.

“This bill does not create an enforceable right” to abortion, insisted several times Guillaume Gouffier Valente (Renaissance), rapporteur to the Assembly. 

The “guaranteed freedom” wording bothers Senators

The government chose the wording "guaranteed freedom" to find a way between the text voted in the Assembly evoking a "right", and another that the Senate, dominated by the right and the center, adopted by a few votes close, but which only retained the term "freedom".

Balance is essential. The path chosen to modify the Constitution implies that the two chambers vote on the same text, down to the comma, before it is submitted to a vote in Congress bringing together parliamentarians, and requiring 60% of the votes. Otherwise, the shuttle between the two rooms will resume.

Also read Europe: a refuge in terms of abortion?

The task is not easy for the government. After the vote, the Minister of Justice chose his words carefully, promising to demonstrate “determination and humility” in the Senate.

Environmentalist senator Mélanie Vogel, at the forefront of the issue, appealed to her fellow senators: "Do not give in to superficial arguments or political considerations. History will not hold them back."

The right fears the creation of a “right enforceable against abortion” 

“We cannot consider that the Assembly text is take it or leave it,” immediately warns Senator LR Philippe Bas, author of the wording adopted in the Senate and who sees in the notion of “guaranteed freedom” a potential risk of sliding towards “enforceable law”. The fear of the elected official and some of the senators is that in the event of the creation of an "enforceable right to abortion", the responsibilities of the State would be engaged in court if a woman is refused a right to abortion. IVG.

On the other hand, the presidents of the LR and centrist Union groups are, personally, against constitutionalization, like the president of the upper house Gérard Larcher (LR), who believes that "abortion is not threatened" in France.

Poorly received in the Senate, the idea launched in December of convening Congress on March 5 was seen as government pressure on Parliament. Éric Dupond-Moretti has promised since the Assembly to take "the time" necessary.

In the Senate, supporters of inclusion in the Constitution have one hope: that the votes lost by the right in the senatorial elections will help tip the scales in their favor. The text must be examined by the upper house on February 28.

With AFP

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