France makes abortion a constitutional right as the world marks International Women’s Day
France on Friday inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion in its constitution, a powerful message of support for women’s rights on International Women’s Day.
A woman from Argentina, a couple from Miami and a man from the Czech Republic were among those gathered on the polished cobblestones of Place Vendome in Paris to witness the outdoor ceremony, which was open to the public. Women in the crowd recalled their own abortions or lifelong battles for reproductive rights.
While abortion is a deeply divisive issue in the United States, it’s legal in nearly all of Europe and abortion rights are overwhelmingly supported in France, where the issue is seen as a matter of public health rather than one of politics. French legislators approved the constitutional amendment Monday in a 780-72 vote that was backed by many on the far right.
The Paris event was a key moment on a day focused on advancing women’s rights globally. Marches, protests and conferences were held in Jakarta, Indonesia; Mexico City; Kabul; and beyond. In Ireland, voters went to the polls to decide whether to change the constitution, which implies that a woman’s place is in the home. Two referendums seek to delete a reference to women’s domestic duties and broaden the definition of the family.
In Paris, when the French justice minister used a 19th-century printing press to seal the amendment in the constitution, cheers filled the plaza. The amendment ensures “the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.”
“For too many years, women’s destinies were sealed by others,’’ President Emmanuel Macron said, calling Friday’s ceremony the culmination of a “long fight for freedom” for women to choose what to do with their bodies.
The French amendment has been hailed by women’s rights advocates around the world, including places where birth control and maternal healthcare are difficult to access. Macron said the move was prompted by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2022 that reversed Roe vs. Wade and rescinded long-held abortion rights.
Macron called for other countries to follow suit and proposed including the right to abortion in the European Union’s charter, drawing cheers from the crowd in Paris. However, such a move would likely meet resistance from EU members that have tight abortion restrictions, such as Poland.
Macron’s critics questioned why he pursued the measure in a country with no obvious threat to abortion rights but where women face a multitude of other problems.
Though some French women saw the step as a major win, others said that, in reality, not everyone in the country has access to abortion.
“It’s a smokescreen,” Arya Meroni, 32, said at an annual “Feminist Night March” in Paris on the eve of International Women’s Day. “The government is destroying our healthcare system; many family planning clinics have closed.’’
But Lunise Marquis, 44, a public relations director, called the amendment a “major milestone for women’s rights.”
“We are sending a message to the world,” she said.
France has a high rate of women killed by their partners, and challenges remain in prosecuting sexual abuse against women, including by men in positions of power. Additionally, French women — especially those of color — receive lower pay and pensions.
The gruesome killing of Ariadna López shocked Mexico, spurred protests in the capital and highlighted the nation’s epidemic of violence against women.
Macron’s government said the abortion amendment was important to avoid a scenario such as the one in the U.S., as hard-right groups are gaining ground and seeking to turn back the clock on freedoms around Europe.
Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti used a 220-pound press from 1810 to imprint the amendment in the French Constitution of 1958.
France follows in the footsteps of the former Yugoslavia, whose 1974 constitution included the phrase: “A person is free to decide on having children.” Yugoslavia’s successor states retained similar language in their constitutions, though they did not spell out guaranteed abortion rights.
Not everyone saw cause for celebration on International Women’s Day, and protest marches were held in numerous countries.
A Tijuana police officer imprisoned for killing her cop boyfriend shows how Mexico — struggling with femicides — reacts when a woman kills her abuser.
“Unfortunately, we still see sky-high pay differences, professions dominated by one sex, a gender-segregated labor market, harassment cases that primarily affect women and a wide range of other equality problems,” said Morten Skov Christensen, head of the Danish Trade Union Confederation, which has 1.3 million members.
In Ireland, voters were deciding on constitutional changes, including removing a reference to women’s role in the home as a key support to the state and deleting a statement that “mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labor to the neglect of their duties in the home.”
In Italy, which has its first female premier, thousands marched in Rome to protest gender-based violence. The issue grabbed public attention after a gruesome murder of a young woman in November “consumed all of Italy in horror and pain,” President Sergio Mattarella said Friday. More than half of the 120 women slain in Italy last year were killed by current or former partners.
In Seoul, participants of street rallies had an eye on next month’s parliamentary elections and expressed hope that parties would prioritize gender equality.
In a Ukrainian village, a woman wants only one thing: to find her husband, who disappeared shortly after Russia’s war on Ukraine started two years ago.
In Russia, where human rights have deteriorated since the military’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations says, President Vladimir Putin saluted women who are fighting in the war and those waiting at home for loved ones who had been deployed.
Women in Afghanistan staged rare protests against harsh Taliban restrictions. The country’s rulers have banned girls and women from education above sixth grade and from most jobs. They are also barred from public spaces, including parks. A group of women gathered indoors in Kabul, holding signs to hide their faces, and chanted, “No to gender apartheid” and “Afghanistan is hell for women.”
A Russian American woman from Los Angeles is held in Russia on treason charges, apparently over a donation to a charity for Ukraine.
Indonesian demonstrators demanded adoption of the International Labor Organization’s conventions concerning gender equality and eliminating workplace violence and harassment.
In Bangkok, labor rights groups marched to the Government House to petition for better work conditions. In Manila, activists marching against violence were stopped by police near the presidential palace, sparking a brief scuffle.
India’s government cut the price of cooking gas cylinders by 100 rupees ($1.20); Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on social media that the move was “in line with our commitment to empowering women.”
UNICEF released a report on International Women’s Day revealing that more than 230 million women and girls around the world have undergone genital mutilation. The number has increased by 30 million in the past eight years, it said.
“We’re also seeing a worrying trend that more girls are subjected to the practice at younger ages, many before their 5th birthday. That further reduces the window to intervene,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
Officially recognized by the U.N. in 1977, International Women’s Day is a national holiday in about 20 countries.
Charlton writes for the Associated Press.
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