Abortion rights have been under attack in the US (and across other parts of the world), as we all know by this point. However, one European giant is making huge strides in women’s rights. France has become the first nation in the world to explicitly write abortion protections into their actual written Constitution.
This week, the members of the French Parliament were summoned by President Emmanuel Macron to vote on an amendment to Article 34 of France’s constitution. An amendment requires 3/5s of the vote to pass and this one had no problem.
The historic language states (per TIME): “The law determines the conditions by which is exercised the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.”
This is a massive step forward for abortion access, which has been getting trampled on globally. Prime Minister Attal had high praise for the amendment, saying, “We’re sending a message to all women. Your body belongs to you and no one can decide for you.” Even when abortion access was enshrined in the U.S. Constitution under Roe v. Wade, it was couched as an issue of “privacy.” Good for France for putting the word abortion right into their constitution!
The National Assembly had already approved this measure back in January. Now was the senate’s turn. They changed some slight language and it was overwhelmingly supported by the major parties in this influential European nation. Similarly to the United States, France now has 25 amendments to their constitution, just two shy of what the United States has—though France’s constitution in its current form is a lot newer than ours, having only been adopted in 1958.
The U.S. rolled back abortion rights with Dobbs in 2022, as we all horribly remember. And Prime Minister Gabriel Attal also wanted to make a note of this, even if he didn’t call us out by name.
Attal remarked, “When women’s rights are attacked in the world, France stands up and places itself at the avant garde of progress.” I really love the phrasing of ‘avant garde of progress.’ So French! But this does make Americans look quite sad considering how much we preach about individual rights, especially on a world stage.
This is a big statement geopolitically. France remains a world leader in many ways and standing in the forefront of rights is a major part of their image. The people of France were very happy about this outcome. A video of French activists celebrating to Beyoncé’s song “Run The World (Girls)” went viral on X, showing people cheering with signs and flags and singing along to this women’s empowerment anthem.
The United States hasn’t ratified an amendment to our Constitution since 1992. The last was the 27th Amendment which impacts rates of pay for congressmembers. Let’s hope we see more changes in our country that codify important human rights protections.
(featured image: Kiran Ridley/Getty Images)
