Abigail Shimniok

France amended their constitution to include abortion as a right on March 4. Though it has been legal since 1974, France has become the first country in the world to include abortion now explicitly as a basic right within their constitution.
This change was overwhelmingly welcomed by the citizens of France, 80% of which believe abortion should be legal according to polls. Lawmakers themselves also supported the idea; it passed with 780 votes for and only 72 against.
This marks the 25th change to the constitution since its ratification in 1958, with its most recent change otherwise being in 2008, which revolved around balancing the relationship between their government and parliament, as well as better securing the rights of their citizens.
This change was in part inspired by the United States’ recent decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade, which held that one may choose to have an abortion performed so long as it is not viable, usually happening around six to seven months into the pregnancy.
With it overturned, individual states were allowed to choose whether or not to allow abortions rather than having the federal government enforce it, leading to nearly half of the states banning the procedure. Claudine Monteil, a French writer and women’s rights activist, told AFP, “The behavior of the U.S. Supreme Court did women all around the world a favor, because it woke us up.”