France to enshrine abortion in its constitution in response to rollback of rights in U.S.
CBCFeb 22
French Parliament Votes to Enshrine Abortion Rights
The Facts
After passing in the lower chamber of Parliament, the French Senate on Wednesday voted 267-50 to make abortion a constitutional right. Both chambers will vote again on Monday, and if the bill passes with a three-fifths majority, a referendum vote will be unnecessary.
One line in the provision states: "The law determines the conditions under which the right is guaranteed to a woman to resort to voluntarily terminating a pregnancy."
The Spin
Left narrative
While this vote certainly fits France's history of leading the fight for abortion rights, it was also a strong response to the US' reversal of Roe v. Wade. As emerging right-wing governments push to roll back women's rights, leading liberal countries in the West should take inspiration from France and work to codify this human right within their own governments.
Right narrative
The abortion debate in France has become so taboo that only the most ardent supporters of abortion on demand have been allowed to speak freely. Even pro-life advocates aren't calling for complete bans, but what they are asking for is the ability to educate the public on the alternatives to terminating pregnancies. Social services should be designed to give people all options.
Nerd narrative
There is a 56% chance that there will be a 10X growth in the number of legal abortions conducted in Poland by 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.