A historic decision. France is the first country to explicitly introduce “guaranteed freedom” for women to have an abortion in its Constitution. Deputies and senators, meeting today in a joint session in Versailles, approved the amendment to the Fundamental Charter proposed by Emmanuel Macron's government, following the annulment of the Roe c. Wade in the United States. 780 votes for, 72 against: therefore above the 512 necessary. The sentence will be added to article 34: “Freedom is guaranteed to the woman who wants to free herself from a voluntary interruption“. Translated: the law determines the conditions under which “the freedom guaranteed to women to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy” is exercised. The outcome was obvious, both Chambers had already expressed their favor a few weeks ago. However, a vote of three-fifths of the members of Parliament was required for final approval.
“It is comforting to see that, despite a worrying political climate, some of our politicians have not forgotten the warning of Simone de Beauvoir (“It will only take a political, economic, religious crisis for the rights of women, our rights, be called into question. “question We must remain vigilant throughout our lives”) and they recognized the signs he was talking about,” underlines a Open Pauline Harmange, French feminist and writer, author of the essay Abortion: the personal is political (Italian translation by Mimemis Edizioni) and the literary case I hate men. Termination of pregnancy in France has been guaranteed since 1975. The Simone Veil law, named after the Minister of Health at the time, allows women to abort until the end of the 14th week or for medical reasons any throughout the pregnancy. But, from today, abortion in France – very often at goods of those who decide to recognize it or not – will benefit from additional protection. “My body, my choice.”
At a time when the right to abortion is being questioned in many regions of the world, what do you think of your country's decision?
“It’s a little depressing, but at the same time almost comforting. On the one hand, it is a reaction to the cancellation of Roe v. Wade in the United States, which led to the reduction of abortion rights around the world. I am happy for the French, just as I continue to cry for all the others who are denied this right. But it is comforting to see that, despite the worrying political climate, some of our politicians have not forgotten Simone de Beauvoir's warning (“It will only take a political, economic, religious crisis for women's rights to , our rights, are called into question. You must remain vigilant throughout your life” and they recognized the signs he was talking about.”
The bill was approved by the Senate only after the word “right” was replaced by the term “guaranteed freedom” of women. Is this a halfway victory?
“Like many feminists in France, I regret that the text refers to a “freedom” rather than a “right” or, better yet, a “guarantee”. Its meaning can therefore vary depending on political inclinations: the pregnancy is voluntarily terminated and the State washes its hands of it. This reduces abortion to the individual level and removes the obligation of the state to guarantee adequate conditions of access to abortion, such as a large number of well-funded specialized centers where women are treated humanely. So we are happy, but only half happy. »
In your book Abortion: the personal is political you write that “abortion hides in the stories we don't tell”, do you believe that the decision can push women to speak, to tell their experience?
“While awaiting the results of the Senate vote, many people in feminist media and on social media have begun to speak out on this issue. There has also been a lot of talk about abortion lately. We must continue to do this because it will be more and more necessary, especially until adequate conditions exist for access to voluntary termination of pregnancy and as long as there is an anti-abortion lobby who will not stop talking about it and saying, among other things, whatever he wants.
I always come back to a sentence from your book: “Abortion is a political issue,” what does that mean?
“I wrote it because we tend to think of abortion as a personal experience, a private matter. As we unfortunately see, there is an ideological current which wants to abolish the right to abortion, and there are still countries where it is prohibited by law, where it is very difficult to access it: it is not a politically neutral subject. You have every right to keep the experience of abortion to yourself, but when you care about a woman's right to decide over her own body, it's important to talk about it. So that the subject is not only addressed by those who are opposed to it. Abortion will therefore remain a political issue as long as more and more people continue to prohibit it. »
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