The Senate rejected the inclusion of the right to abortion in the Constitution

The symbol could have been strong and proportionate to the excitement aroused throughout the French political class by the abrogation of the right to abortion in the United States on June 24. But it didn’t happen. Wednesday 19 October the Senate, with the majority on the right, swept away the bill presented by the ecological deputy Mélanie Vogel, proposing to insert the right to abortion in the Constitution. The bill met with the rejection of the majority of the elected LRs, 172 senators who voted against and 139 in favor. A first setback for women’s rights, five months after the historic setback of the cancellation of Roe vs. Cross the Atlantic.

A setback for women’s rights

“You measure very badly the importance for the whole of Europe of today’s vote. The strength that this would give to millions of human rights defenders, ”encouraged Mélanie Vogel during the general discussion as part of the examination of this bill.

For her part, the senator of the PS and former minister for women’s rights Laurence Rossignol estimated that “this vote is political, whether the bill is adopted or rejected, the Senate will send a signal, but it will not be the same”.

According to her, this vote therefore strengthens “all opponents of women’s freedoms” and sends a particularly negative message, also highlighting a significant gap between the Senate and French company, 81% in favor of including access to abortion in the Constitution, according to an Ifop survey for the Jean-Jaurès Foundation.

A new bill under consideration by the National Assembly

The debates should however continue in the coming months, in particular in the National Assembly where at the end of November the examination of a text presented by the deputies of the Renaissance should take place.

While in Europe legislation is advancing to limit the right to abortion, the strongest political symbol would still remain that of the presentation of a bill passed by the government to constitutionalize this right. This would in particular be the assurance of avoiding a referendum (any constitutional reform initiated by a parliamentary bill to be approved by this means) and, more generally, of providing a media platform for anti-abortion activists.

Photo of one: Youtube screenshot