Paris: France has become the first country to include the right to abortion in its Constitution.
Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti gave validity to the historic change by turning the handle of a 300 kg 19th-century press to stamp a green wax seal on a ribbon attached to the official amendment document. The French Parliament had approved the amendment in Constitution earlier in the week.
The seal of approval couldn’t have come on a more significant day that International Women’s Day.
Addressing the ceremony, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the country won’t rest until the right to abortion was guaranteed in European Union’s (EU) rights charter.
“France today becomes the only country worldwide whose constitution explicitly protects the right to abortion in all circumstances… But we will not rest until this promise is kept everywhere in the world,” Macron said.
“Today is not the end of the story. It’s the start of a fight,” Macron added emphatically.
In Europe, “nothing is set in stone any longer and everything has to be defended,” Macron said, alluding to “reactionary forces” in other parts of the continent.
Veteran pop singer Catherine Ringer sang a revised rendition of the national anthem, where she addressed both women and men as “citizens.”
Abortion is legal in France since 1975. However, Macron last year vowed to enhance its protection following US Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to overturn the long-standing nationwide right to abortion, thereby delegating the decision to individual states.
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