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On Wednesday, during the Pari(s) Santé Femmes congress, the College of Gynecologists warned of the “lack of staff in maternity wards” which weakens access to abortion.
On March 2, 2022, a new law concerning the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy was promulgated. Five new measures have been put in place, including a long-awaited one: the extension of abortion, which goes from 12 to 14 weeks. Despite these advances, gynecologists remain worried: difficulties still hinder access to the right to abortion.
Abortion: the maximum period increases to 14 weeks
This is a big step forward for all women: at the beginning of March, the period for recourse to voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) went from 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy.
The text follows the recommendations of MPs Marie-Noëlle Battistel and Cécile Muschotti on access to voluntary termination of pregnancy.
The report of the deputies was clear: each year, approximately 2000 French women were forced to go abroad to perform an abortion after twelve weeks. In question “complex personal situations” and the “closure of health establishments practicing abortion”, which forced these women to turn to Spain, the United Kingdom or the Netherlands.
“Maternities in danger”
Surgical abortions and part of medical abortions are performed in maternity wards. Centers which lack means and which also have to deal with the shortage of midwives, gynecologists or anesthesiologists. On average, in one out of five maternity wards, 10 midwifery positions are vacant.
“We do not think that the right to abortion is questioned in our country, but our certainty is that our maternities are in danger”reveals Cyril Huissand on a daily basis 20 minutes.
It is therefore difficult to measure the effects of this new law, only a few weeks after its publication.
“Giving two more weeks is not going to facilitate access to abortion”, warns the president of the CNGOF. “Today, as soon as there is a shortage of personnel in the maternity ward, we take paramedics or block slots for abortions. It is essential to give us more means. In addition, a study revealed that 70% of women who were going to have an abortion abroad beyond fourteen weeks because they discovered too late that they were pregnant “.
Furthermore, technically, surgical abortion at 14 weeks is much more complex than that at 12 weeks (larger foetus, longer operation, etc.). An intervention that puts off some professionals, who are nevertheless in favor of abortion, but who are sorely lacking in time and/or knowledge on the subject.
Abortion rights in France: other changes
In addition to the extension of the period for resorting to voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG), the law promulgated on March 2, 2022 includes other changes:
- the extent of competence in the practice of surgical abortions to midwives in hospitals;
- the sustainability of the extension of the period for recourse to medical abortion in the city to 7 weeks of pregnancy (compared to 5), as has been the case since April 2020;
- the abolition of the two-day reflection period, imposed in order to confirm an abortion request after a psychosocial interview;
- the clarification in the public health code that the pharmacist refusing to issue a contraceptive in an emergency will be in disregard of his professional obligations.