Demonstrations to defend a “right” which would not remain “acquired”

“The right to choose is vital.” In a climate of concern and vigilance, six months after the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution, hundreds of people demonstrated on Saturday in Paris and in several French cities to defend the right to abortion. On the occasion of the international day dedicated to this right which remains hampered or even non-existent in certain countries, the procession set off in the capital, at the call of the collective “Abortion in Europe, women decide”, bringing together associations feminists and unions.

“I had an abortion two years ago”, “I almost died”, Marie Chureau, a 22-year-old student, told AFP. By calling for more subsidies for family planning and, according to her, highlighting the shortage of abortion pills in certain cities. “The inclusion of abortion in the Constitution is not enough, it is a freedom but not a right”, she explains in the Parisian demonstration, whose head banner proclaims: “Abortion is a right fundamental “.

The text of the call to demonstrate is concerned that the conditions of “guaranteed freedom” of access to abortion enshrined in the Constitution in March could be “reduced”, a first in the world. Thomas Laurent, 44, an entertainment worker wearing a CGT pin, believes that this registration “will not prevent the abolition of State Medical Aid” which guarantees certain free care to foreigners under certain conditions. in an irregular situation. “A reason for concern” because “undocumented women will no longer have access to gynecological care and abortion,” he says.

Ministers against constitutionalization

This demonstration means “that we are aware of the fact that it is a right which can be called into question at any moment and that we will not give up”, warned a demonstrator, noting the entry into the government of Michel Barnier “rare deputies and senators” who “voted against the constitutionalization of abortion”, citing Annie Genevard and Bruno Retailleau.

According to official figures, 243,623 abortions were recorded in France in 2023, 8,600 more than in 2022. But for feminist associations and 89% of French people, obstacles persist, particularly in terms of structures and deadlines, according to an Ifop barometer published by Planned Parenthood. The Alliance Vita association, which campaigns against abortion, maintains on the contrary that access has been “simplified, even trivialized”. Prime Minister Michel Barnier assured that “acquired rights”, particularly in matters of abortion, would be “fully preserved”.

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