France has responded to recent abortion rights setbacks in the US by solidifying itself as the first nation to constitutionally safeguard women’s ability to terminate pregnancies.
In a resounding vote on Monday, lawmakers in a joint session of both parliamentary houses overwhelmingly approved the constitutional amendment by a vote of 780-72. This decisive action fulfills President Emmanuel Macron’s promise from last year to make abortion rights in France “irreversible,” shielding them from the kind of restrictive measures seen in some US states.
Following the announcement of the amendment’s passage, members of the French parliament erupted into a standing ovation. Macron announced that the constitutional revision would be officially enshrined on March 8, coinciding with International Women’s Day, during a ceremony in Paris. The amendment to Article 34 guarantees “a woman’s guaranteed freedom to have recourse to an abortion.”
In a message posted on X (formerly Twitter), Macron hailed Monday’s vote as a moment of “French pride” and a “universal message,” inviting celebration for the new freedom secured in the Constitution through the first public sealing ceremony in French history.
While the right to abortion was constitutionally protected in the US for 50 years under the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, the decision was overturned by the US Supreme Court in June 2022. This shift enabled individual states to impose restrictions on abortion, with over 20 states implementing bans or limitations on access to the procedure.
Abortion has been legal in France since 1974, permitting termination of pregnancies within 14 weeks of conception. Polling indicates strong support for the constitutional amendment, with 80% of French adults in favor.
Ahead of Monday’s vote, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal urged lawmakers to approve the revision, emphasizing a moral obligation to women. He celebrated the vote on social media, declaring, “Today, France sent a historic message to the whole world: Women’s bodies belong to them, and no one has the right to dispose of them in their place.”
