Today: 7 October 2025
1 March 2024
2 mins read

French senate votes to make abortion a Constitutional freedom

The plan faced some opposition from right-wing senators and the government chose the expression “guaranteed freedom” as an apparent compromise between both houses…reports Asian Lite News

France’s Senate on Wednesday backed a government move to enshrine the “freedom” to have an abortion in the constitution which will now be voted on at a special congress.

President Emmanuel Macron last year pledged to put the right to terminate a pregnancy — which has been legal in France since 1974 — into the constitution after the US Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the half-century-old right to the procedure, allowing states to ban or curtail abortion.

Despite opposition from some conservative members, the upper chamber voted by 267 votes to 50 to back the constitutional change.

The lower-house National Assembly overwhelmingly voted in favour of making abortion a “guaranteed freedom” in January, with almost all members of Macron’s centrist minority coalition as well as left-wing opposition parties approving it.

Macron said he would call a special Congress session of the two chambers at Versailles palace on Monday for a final vote. Macron welcomed what he called a “decisive step” by the Senate in his announcement on X, the former Twitter.

Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said France was on the verge of a “historic day” when it becomes “the first country in the world to protect in its constitution the freedom of women” to decide what happens to their bodies.

The plan faced some opposition from right-wing senators and the government chose the expression “guaranteed freedom” as an apparent compromise between both houses.

The lower house in 2022 had approved enshrining the “right” to an abortion, while the Senate last year was in favour of adding the “freedom” to resort to the procedure.

However, before the full vote, a Senate committee on Wednesday rejected motions from the right to amend the text of the proposed revision.

In private several right-wing senators said they felt under pressure to approve the change.

“If I vote against it, my daughters will no longer come for Christmas,” said one woman senator who asked to remain anonymous.

A survey by French polling company IFOP in November 2022 found 86 percent of French people supported making abortion a constitutional right.

ALSO READ-Paris Hosts UAE-France High-Level Business Plenary

Previous Story

Ukraine claims it shot down 3 Russian Su-34 jets

Next Story

Ukraine’s Cultural, Tourism Sectors Suffer $19.6 Billion Losses

Latest from -Top News

OCTOBER 7: Stop the Violence Now, Says Guterres

Guterres recalled that “the attackers brutally killed more than 1,250 Israelis and foreign nationals….reports Asian Lite News UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate halt to the violence in Gaza, Israel, and

Piyush Goyal Heads to Doha for Trade Talks

During the visit, both sides are expected to discuss the proposed India–Qatar Free Trade Agreement (FTA)….reports Asian Lite News Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will travel to Doha, Qatar, on

Hamas Heads to Egypt for Gaza Talks

The negotiation will focus on the details of enacting the first phase of the plan…reports Asian Lite News A delegation from the Palestinian group Hamas arrived in Egypt on Sunday ahead of

Multi-alignment, upgraded

With US ties strained and China tense, New Delhi taps Europe’s harder edge for co-development, clean tech and strategic autonomy, writes Manoj Menon India is recalibrating its great-power hedging as frictions with
Go toTop

Don't Miss

France, Germany back Ukraine’s right to target Russian bases  

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz echoed Macron’s sentiments, affirming that Ukraine

Thousands of protesters flood streets in France

The demonstrators clashed with a sizable police presence stationed outside