French senators on Wednesday voted to enshrine the right to an abortion in the country’s constitution. If the bill is approved by a three-fifths vote of parliament, expected on Monday, France will become the first country in the world to constitutionally ensure the right to an abortion.
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Wednesday’s vote comes after the lower house, or National Assembly, overwhelmingly approved the proposal in January.
The government of President Emmanuel Macron had pushed for Article 34 of the constitution to be amended to cite “the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed”.
The government said in its introduction to the bill that the change was necessary after the rollback of abortion rights in the United States, where in 2022 the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that guaranteed access to the procedure nationwide.
None of the major political parties represented in France’s parliament questioned the right to abortion, which was decriminalised in 1975. Most senators were in favour of the constitutional change, but some conservatives had criticised its wording.
The constitutional change will require definitive approval by a three-fifths majority of a joint session of parliament, traditionally held at the Palace of Versailles.
In the moments after the Senate voted its approval, the Élysée Palace said in a statement that Macron would be summoning lawmakers to Versailles on Monday to officialise the change.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
This story originally appeared on France24
