President Emmanuel Macron hailed the amendment as "French pride" and a "universal message". On Monday night, the Eiffel Tower was also lit up for the voting.  

On Monday, France was the first in the world to enshrine the protection of the right to abortion in its constitution. "We owe a moral debt to all the women who suffered in their bodies due to illegal abortions," said Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, opening the debate of the joint session of the two houses of the parliament, the congress.

After 16 years, the representatives and senators met again in the castle of Versailles to amend the constitution, and

with a large majority, 780 in favor and 72 against, the government's bill was adopted, the text of which had already been separately approved by the National Assembly and the Senate. President Emmanuel Macron hailed the amendment as "French pride" and a "universal message".

"Let's celebrate together the inclusion of a new, guaranteed freedom in the constitution!" - wrote the president in his message published on social media. Four days before March 8, the International Day of Women's Rights, the reform inserts the following sentence into Article 34: " The law defines the conditions under which women's guaranteed freedom to terminate a pregnancy can be exercised."

On Monday night, the Eiffel Tower was also lit up for the voting. On March 8, 2023, President Emmanuel Macron committed to enshrining the right to abortion in the constitution after the US Constitutional Court's decision to allow US states to ban abortion sparked concern in France.

According to surveys, more than eighty percent of the French support the inclusion of the right to abortion in the constitution, which gradually won a majority among politicians as well as in congressional voting.

a significant majority of right-wing representatives, traditionally more skeptical of abortion, also supported the reform.

Abortion was legalized in France in 1975, four years after 343 women, including actresses Jeanne Moreau and Catherine Deneuve and writers Simone de Beauvoir, Marguerite Duras and Francoise Sagan, revealed in a then-shocking appeal that they had illegally obtained abortions.

MTI

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