France Becomes First (& Only) Nation in World to Guarantee Woman's Access to Abortion in Constitution

  

France made history yesterday. It became the first country in history to preserve a woman's access to abortion as a constitutional right. As of right now, it is the only country in the world to have done that, standing alone.

Let me be clear: I do not like abortions. Nobody does. It is a very sad world that we live in, and I do not believe that having an abortion is a decision that any woman enters into lightly. The abortion debate has been raging all around the world for a long time now. It seems to flair up all over, with headlines popping up surrounding this obviously volatile issue in South America, or Spain, or other countries. Certainly, it has been one of the most polarizing issues for many decades right here in the United States, with an extreme set of anti-abortion laws having recently become the law in Alabama.

Again, nobody is in favor or likes abortions. They are a sad reality in our world. People often are too quick to lay blame, and mistakes are made. Also, people simply are not as pure and well-behaved as many of the religious zealots vehemently opposed to abortion rights demand that they should be.

However, these same people too often favor a political system which punishes the poor for their poverty, and make it as difficult for people to live decent lives of dignity and meaning. Until that changes, all that restricting - or outright eliminating - access to abortion will provide is more poverty and suffering. Frankly, unnecessarily.

It is not an easy issue to grapple with, admittedly. And there are two sides to the issue. I understand that.

Still, sad as it may be, abortion is something which I feel governments should not intervene with. It is not the place of the government to restrict women's rights. This is a deeply personal choice, and that means that religions also should not be dictating the terms of access to abortions, particularly with non-believers and non-practitioners. So I applaud France for this controversial decision.

 

French Lawmakers Enshrine Access to Abortion in Constitution by Catherine Porter, Reporting from Versailles  Published March 4, 2024 Updated March 5, 2024:

Legislators passed an amendment giving women the “guaranteed freedom” to end their pregnancies, which experts called a global first. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/04/world/europe/france-abortion-rights-constitution.html