On Monday 4 March 2024, Parliament, meeting in congress at the Palace of Versailles, will decide on the inclusion in the Constitution of “guaranteed freedom” women to resort to abortion. A text approved identically by the Assembly and then by the Senate last week.
This constitutional revision involves the insertion of a new paragraph in article 34 of the Constitution:
“The law determines the conditions in which the woman’s freedom, which is guaranteed to her, to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy is exercised”.
While some welcome a historic victory, others are more mixed, deploring a tepid wording that pushes back ” the right ” for the benefit of “guaranteed freedom” and ultimately does not protect this right. The spotlight is on me Élodie Tuaillon-Hibon, lawyer at the Paris Bar.
Why is the use of “guaranteed freedom” criticized?
Me Élodie Tuaillon-Hibon. Beyond the terminology “right” versus “freedom”, it is above all the paragraph according to which the law will determine the conditions for the exercise of this freedom that poses a problem. This means that, depending on the circumstances and majorities, we could have laws that, while claiming to respect the freedom guaranteed to women by the Constitution, in reality undermine the right by making access to abortion more difficult and complicated. This may concern the funding allocated, the same access conditions, the limitation of the number of authorized weeks (14 weeks currently, ed.).
Should we still rejoice at this progress?
Yes, but this also opens up a long period of battles so that the laws that are implemented are interpreted as broadly as possible in favor of women who want to have an abortion. Potentially, we will end up with laws that will ultimately have to be submitted to the Constitutional Council, which will have to rule on whether or not there are violations of the freedom of abortion and decide whether such violations are justified or not…
What then is the scope of this constitutional revision?
Symbolically, this says something. The debates of recent months have revealed that this is an issue that is close to the heart of French society and on which we could find a form of consensus. But it is the consensus in question that I am most conflicted about. As Salomé Saqué points out on Instagram, we must not lose sight of the fact that the essentially right-wing senators got what they wanted. That is to say, a distorted text compared to the initial proposition, which contained the word “right”.
Listen to Apéro des Daronnes, Madmoizelle’s show that aims to break down taboos on parenting.
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
