“ France enshrines the right to abortion in its Constitution », notes the Times in London. “ France makes abortion a constitutional right in historic Versailles vote », exclaims the Guardian. “ France is the first country in the world to defend the freedom of abortion by including it in its Constitution », adds El País to Madrid. “ In France, abortion becomes a right protected by the constitution: “a promise for women around the world” », says the Corriere della Serra in Rome. “ Macron’s strong signal to women around the world », insists Die Welt in Berlin. “ This is a historic moment, comments the German daily. Nothing and no one can take away from French women the right to end an unwanted pregnancy in the near or distant future. France is (therefore) the first country in the world to include abortion in its constitution, not as a right, but as a “guaranteed freedom”. »
Germany challenged
As a result, ” Germany, where the right to abortion still does not exist, should feel challenged, estimated Die Welt. This right was withdrawn from citizens of the GDR during reunification. ” And today, ” German women who terminate unwanted pregnancies considered criminals. »
Let us hope, concludes the Over-the-Rhine daily, that “ the commission set up by the federal government to clarify the question of the illegality of abortion will be inspired by French determination. »
The American decline
In the United States, the right to abortion has been called into question… In 2022, recalls the New York Times, the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, thus removing the constitutional right to abortion after almost 50 years of practice. A decision which reshaped the country’s policy in this area and which led to total bans on voluntary termination of pregnancy in almost half of the states.
SO, ” unlike the United States, notice the New York Times, the issue of abortion in France is not politically charged and does not give rise to strong divisions. On the contrary, most French people believe that abortion is a basic public health service and a woman’s right. A recent survey of 29 countries showed that France was the second country in the world, after Sweden, to be most in favor of legalizing abortion. »
A proud France!
And in fact, in the French press the historic decision of the Parliament meeting in congress yesterday was almost unanimous…
“ This is an important moment in the life of the nationestimated The world. A proud moment, too. HAS on the eve of International Women’s Rights Day, March 8, the freedom of women to dispose of their bodies is enshrined in the fundamental text at a time when abortion, which we thought was accepted, finds itself weakened in a a number of democracies, starting with the United States. »
“ March 4, 2024 will indeed remain a historic dateexclaims Release. (…) A day when we want to think about the millions of French women who have had abortions. Also want to think of these millions of other women, around the world, who will have watched this vote in Congress with the hope that these lights, one day, perhaps, will also come on in their country. Want, therefore, there, now, to rejoice, point again Release. I don’t want to dwell on these 72 votes which spoke out against it yesterday in Versailles. To also forget for a day that this progressive surge comes against the tide of a worrying reactionary wind. This is not about being naive or complacent. Just taking the time to savor a victory that is far from symbolic. »
Tormented?
Finally, Le Figaro makes his difference heard: “ if these hours are historic, it is because they crystallize the advent of the “France after”, where the “Catholic matrix” was so dislocated that its traces were erased one by one. Irony of history: it is the Church which, by its opposition to this development, becomes socially heretical. »
And Le Figaro to conclude : “be careful not to consider as delinquent the consciences still tormented by the voluntary termination of a pregnancy. »