France - February 2024

France became one of the first countries in the world to protect the right to abortion in its Constitution. The amendment to Article 34 of the Constitution guarantees the freedom for a woman to have recourse to a voluntary termination of pregnancy. The amendment comfortably cleared the three-fifths majority vote in Parliament required for constitutional reform. It was passed by the upper house (the Senate) on 28 February, with 267 votes for and 50 against, and by the lower house (the National Assembly) on 4 March with 780 votes for and 72 against. A 2023 poll shows that 82 per cent of the French population believes abortion should be legal, among the highest levels of support in Europe. The government expressed that the decision to protect the right to abortion in the Constitution followed a rollback of abortion rights across Europe and around the world, including the 2022 decision by the Supreme Court to strip women of the right to abortion in the United States.

Sources: National Assembly, The Senate, Le Monde, IPSOS