French lawmakers make abortion a constitutional right

Abortion rights activists broke into cheers near the Eiffel Tower on Monday, as France enshrined the right to abortion in its constitution in a world first.

In a special joint vote of the two houses of parliament at the Versailles Palace, MPs and senators overwhelmingly backed the initiative.

The final tally: 780 votes against 72.

Article 34 in the French constitution will now read that "the law determines the conditions in which a woman has the guaranteed freedom to have recourse to an abortion."

Mathilde Panot, a lawmaker from a far-left party called the victory ‘historic.’

“Our vote is also a promise to all women around the world who are fighting for the right to have control over their bodies... today's vote tells them that their fight is ours and that this victory is theirs."

Abortion rights are more widely accepted in France than in the U.S. and many other countries.

Polls show around 80% of French people support the fact that abortion is legal, which it has been since a law passed in 1974.

It was harshly criticized at the time.

But in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision to reverse the Roe v. Wade ruling that recognized women's constitutional right to abortion, activists pushed France to become the first country to explicitly protect the right in its basic law.

Still, the push has not come without criticism.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said French President Emmanuel Macron was trying to score political points, adding that it's an exaggeration to call it a 'historic step' when the right to abortion was not at risk in France.

"In reality, the day after this congress, nothing will have changed for women,” said Helene Laporte, a lawmaker from Le Pen’s party.

The president of the Association of Catholic Families called the change an “imported debate” that “is not French" and said that there was no need to add the right to abortion to the constitution.