Abortion as a constitutional right...MyBodyMyChoice...

Today, the 4th of March 2024, went down as a historic day after the French government’s historic move to constitutionalize abortion. #MonCorpsMonChoix #IVGConstitution . #MyBodyMyChoice were some of the messages illuminated on the Eiffel Tower, which began sparkling as soon as Congress voted to include abortion in the Constitution at around 6.50 PM. Eiffel Tower has been used to show solidarity to various causes in the past like the support for Ukraine and Hamas, and today’s events were not any different as it graced the announcement with hundreds of people celebrating the event on the Trocadero forecourt. The law #IVGConstitution (Interruption Volontaire de grossesse) basically means voluntary termination of pregnancy, simply put, abortion. Through the passing of the bill France is now the first country in the world to recognize the freedom of women to resort to abortion solely by their discretion in the constitution. 852 French parliamentarians met in Chateau de Versailles and 780 voted in favor, and 72 against the bill. The success was followed by Emmanuel Macrons' tweet or rather X, ‘fierté française, message universel’, inviting the public to a ceremony to seal the constitution on the 8th of March, on women’s day. According to the prime minister, the day goes down in history to safeguard the freedom of abortion which ‘remains in danger’ and to consolidate France as the human rights and women’s rights homeland. Now, the vote has been received with massively differing opinions, even the Vatican has responded by saying that ‘there can be no right to take away human life’. Abortion laws have come a long, long way, and as of today, they vary widely, some countries allow abortion only on request, some just under certain conditions, some strictly prohibit abortion, and now, there’s France which has made abortion a constitutional right. As some are celebrating this as a win, it goes beyond just a bill, it is a topic that carries a lot of gravity, I just stood there as people celebrated trying to take in what this really means. Some are ridiculing the move saying it is funny that this is a major concern and a priority for France when farmers are angry and striking daily on the roads, teachers, and transport workers, striking, an increasingly poor population in the country, yet this is somehow a concern. Abortion debate tends to be a complicated issue but I won’t go into it now lest this insight becomes too long! Do you think this kind of constitutional change is progress when it comes to women’s rights? Does this signify what women’s freedom is? Should abortion really be a constitutional right?

Other insights from Anita Koske

Referral Earning

Points-to-Coupons