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The French Senate has overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to solidify women’s right to abortion, following a similar endorsement by the National Assembly. The vote, with 267 in favor and 50 against, reflects growing pressure to strengthen abortion rights amidst concerns over erosion in allied nations like the US and Poland.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a special joint session of both houses of parliament, away from Paris, in Versailles, to vote on the amendment. If passed with a three-fifths majority, a referendum won’t be necessary. An Ifop poll from November 2022 indicated strong public support, with 86% favoring the amendment.

While all major political parties in France support abortion rights, there was a revision in the language of the amendment, changing from endorsing the “right” to abortion to advocating for the “freedom” to have one. This adjustment, calling for “guaranteed freedom,” was approved by the Senate.

President Macron has pledged to make women’s freedom to choose abortion “irreversible” by enshrining it in the constitution. Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti hailed the move as historic, positioning France as the first country to constitutionally protect women’s freedom in deciding about their bodies.

Conservative senators expressed feeling pressured to approve the amendment, with one anonymously stating concerns about familial repercussions if she voted against it.

The backdrop to this decision includes ongoing debates in the US, where abortion rights have been challenged, leading to restrictions in many states, and in Poland, where a near-total ban on abortion was imposed by the Constitutional Court in 2020.

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Russian authorities are implementing measures to restrict access to abortions in an effort to address the country’s demographic crisis. These measures include criminalizing attempts to persuade women to have abortions and pressuring private clinics to cease performing the procedure. The anti-abortion campaign, supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, has been criticized by feminist groups who argue that it endangers women’s lives.

Russia’s population has remained stagnant for over 20 years, with concerns about the impact on military recruitment and the economy. The high number of abortions, with almost a third of Russian women reporting having had one, is identified as a key factor contributing to the demographic crisis. The government, backed by the church, aims to discourage abortions through informal means, including guidelines for healthcare professionals to dissuade women and restrictions on the sale of abortion-inducing medication.

Financial incentives are being offered to pregnant women and those who give birth, and private clinics are facing pressure to stop offering abortion services. Some regions have implemented fines for attempting to persuade a pregnant woman to have an abortion, and there are fears that the anti-abortion campaign may lead to an increase in unsafe, illegal procedures, as well as negatively impacting women’s health by discouraging safer medical abortions.

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After a lady in her fifth month of pregnancy died of sepsis, women’s rights activists called for rallies in dozens of Polish cities.

Thousands of people marched in Poland against the country’s stringent abortion law after a woman five months pregnant died of sepsis, the latest such death since the ban was tightened.

Protesters chanted “Stop killing us” as they marched through Warsaw’s capital towards the health ministry’s headquarters on Wednesday, some carrying placards reading “We want doctors, not missionaries” and “Hell for women,” a common slogan used to convey how the measure affects those carrying an unwanted or dangerous pregnancy.

Poland’s abortion laws, which are among the harshest in Europe, have sparked major protests in recent years, and the death of Dorota Lalik, 33, in May has fueled anti-government sentiment among many liberal Poles ahead of elections in October or November.

As conservative politics have progressively taken hold in one of Europe’s most devoutly Catholic countries, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s nationalist administration implemented a constitutional court judgement prohibiting terminations of pregnancies with foetal malformations in 2021.

According to abortion rights campaigners, there were at least five incidents of pregnant women dying whose families went public, blaming abortion restrictions for their deaths.

When asked about the consequences of the tight abortion restriction, Mateusz Morawiecki cautioned against “politicising” the Lalik case.

“Such perinatal deaths occurred also during the Platforma Obywatelska [Civic Platform],” Morawiecki remarked on Wednesday, referring to the centrist opposition party that ruled before his conservative party won office in 2015.

Even before Morawiecki’s Prawo i Sprawiedliwo (Law and Justice) party came to office, Poland had one of the most stringent abortion laws in Europe.

Women have the right to abortion under present legislation only in circumstances of rape or incest, or if their life or health is in danger. This week, government officials emphasised that the law was not the cause of the woman’s death. They emphasised that in such instances, women have the right to a legal abortion, and that the hospital infringed that right.

Several women have perished since 2020, when the constitutional court declared that women may no longer abort pregnancies due to serious foetal defects.

Women’s rights groups claim that the present statute, as well as the wider conservative milieu, has chilling effects. Another issue, they claim, is doctors who refuse to perform abortions because of their moral conscience.

An inquiry into Lalik’s death has been launched by prosecutors. They are already investigating two similar incidents in which pregnant women died in hospital following the demise of the foetus they were carrying.

In 2021, her family criticised physicians’ “wait-and-see attitude” when a pregnant 30-year-old mother from Pszczyna died.

A year later, a 37-year-old lady died in Czestochowa, Poland, just weeks after losing her 12-week-old twin foetuses.

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The Polish government has exerted force against people protesting against a court ruling that bans abortions in the country.

The protest has been witnessed in several regions across the country, including in the Polish capital, Warsaw.

It has been organised outside the official residence of the Polish Deputy Prime Minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

As per the court order, ending the life of a deformed foetus is unconstitutional. According to the order, abortion is only valid in cases of rape or incest, or to protect the mother’s life.

Poland is the country where one of the toughest abortion frameworks exists. The new order is expected to make the framework tougher.

The protest against abortion has taken place not only in Poland, but also across the continent of Europe.

This is not the first time that the country has witnessed a protest in connection with the matter.

The new court order has the backing of the ruling party, as its attempt towards this extent was earlier foiled by a similar protest.

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The European country of Poland, which is a conservative country, is set bring in a total ban on abortion.

The abortion law in Poland is one of the strictest in the continent of Europe.

The new move means the country will witness a tough protest on this matter in the near future itself.

 At present, Poland only allows abortion in cases of rape or incest, if the mother’s life is at risk, or if the featus is seriously compromised.

The new legislation intents to limit the provisions to cases of foetal defects.

Several human rights organisations have raised their voice against the move. They have appealed for the intervention of the progressive world against the move.

They have also urged the political community to reject the move to dilute the abortion law in the country of Poland.

It was a mass protest that dismissed a similar attempt to dilute the abortion law. Then also, that was attempted by the ruling.

This time also, the move is backed by the ruling party.

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The United Kingdom region of Northern Ireland has overturned its laws on same sex marriage and abortion.

In the region, abortion is no longer crime, and same sex marriages, unlike before, can be done legally hereafter.

The removal of the laws has come as a result of the decades-old protest of progressive groups against the government.

Most progressive groups have welcomed the move. Many have gathered in the streets of the country to celebrate their victory over the conservative elements of the region, which has been campaigning against the removal of the laws for decades.

As per a report, the first same sex marriage of the region is going to take place in February next year. The identity of the couple has not been publicised yet.

Some has called this the rebirth of Northern Ireland.

The region is very conservative compared to the rest of the United Kingdom. Not many have expected that this would happen to this region.


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