France Makes Abortion a Constitutional Right. What Does It Mean? How is it a Political Win for Macron?

France has become the first country in the world to make abortion a constitutional right. This means, that abortion will now be a guaranteed right enshrined in the French constitution. The country had already superseded some of the developed countries of the world when it legalized abortion in 1975.

This development comes when the US, the world’s powerful economy, had removed right to abortion in 2022 – a move that not only vexed feminists but several progressive societies of the world, including some in Asia.

How is This a Political Win for Macron?

French President Emmanuel Macron has been criticised for making an “unnecessary” move, and fiddling with the constitution for electoral gains. With more than 85% of French people exuding support in Macron’s move, critics say it is just to please the left-wingers and weed out any opposition to abortion.

Macron’s earlier decision on immigration and pension reform had caused a stir in France, and the European Union’s climate policies have kept the French farmers and the agricultural sector on tenterhooks, thus, the right to abortion guarantee is being considered a balancing act by his Renaissance party.

With European elections scheduled to be held in June, Macron is hoping that the abortion decision would put him in a stronger position against his main opponents, including right-wing’s Marine Le Pen.

What is the French Law on Abortion?

Since 1975 the law has been updated nine times, with an aim to extend access. Even the France’s constitutional council that decides on the constitutionality of law never raised any questions on right to abortion. Thus, critics stress that the move by Macron was unnecessary.

In the 2001 ruling, the council approved the abortion right based on the notion of liberty as mentioned in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man, which is part of the constitution.

Will this Lead to Misuse of the Constitution?

Many fear that the right to abortion will be interpreted as right to have a child, and open a lot of questions around surrogate motherhood, gay marriages and carbon footprint targets.

“There is a French particularity which leads politicians — in an almost Pavlovian way — to look for a constitutional change each time they want to signal the importance they attach to an issue,” Ann Levade says, as quoted by the BBC.

The Vatican, which has always opposed abortion, stated, “There can be no ‘right’ to take a human life”. The French Catholics have echoed similar sentiments.

It appealed to “all governments and all religious traditions to do their best so that, in this phase of history, the protection of life becomes an absolute priority”.

How is the US Different?

Abortion is banned in around 14 states in the US since Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022 by the Supreme Court. Two states – Georgia and South Carolina – have banned abortion past roughly six weeks of pregnancy.

‘Roe’ struck down laws that made abortion illegal in several states, and ruled that abortion would be allowed up to the point of foetal viability, that is, the time after which a foetus can survive outside the womb.

Foetal viability is the point at which the rights of the woman can be separated from the rights of the unborn foetus. The length of a pregnancy, a metric applicable in most countries, is calculated from the start of a person’s most recent menstrual period. Since many people identify pregnancy only after the sixth week, pre-viability timelines leave women with little time to make a decision to abort.

What is the Law in India?

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy, 1971 allows abortion until 20 weeks of pregnancy. After the amendment in 2021, the limit was raised to 24 weeks, but only in special categories such as rape or incest survivors.

In case of foetal disability, there is no limit on the timeline of abortion. In such a case, a medical board of specialist doctors in states and Union Territories take the decision.