Parliamentarians in France have voted to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right. Amending the 1958 Constitution, lawmakers voted by 780 to 72 in favour of guaranteeing “the freedom of women to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy”. Activists have been pushing for pro-abortion protections to be included in France’s constitution since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022. But Roman Catholic Bishops called for a day of “fasting and prayer so the French could rediscover the taste for life”. They said: “Abortion remains a violation of life at its beginning and cannot be seen under the sole angle of women’s rights”.

Source: The Times March 08, 2024 16:02 UTC