Fifty years ago the French parliament passed a groundbreaking bill that would eventually decriminalise abortion, championed by health minister Simone Veil, amidst intense opposition.
After three days of fierce debate, the first draft of the bill was passed on 29 November, 1974. And while the right to abortion has since been enshrined in the French constitution, a world first, the bill’s adoption by the National Assembly half a century ago was far from a given.
Newly elected president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing had promised to decriminalise abortion, but his justice minister, Jean Lecanuet, who was tasked with drafting the legislation, refused to do it for personal, ethical reasons.
Health minister Simone Veil instead took up the challenge, and presented the bill to an (overwhelmingly male) National Assembly – opening the debate with a speech in which she argued that women were getting abortions regardless of the law, which should therefore be changed.
"We can no longer close our eyes to the 300,000 abortions a year that, each year, scar the women of this country, which flout our laws and humiliate or traumatise those who resort to them," she said.
'No woman resorts to abortion with joy'
In what was a call for politicians to accept the current reality, Veil continued: "I would like to share with you a woman’s conviction. Please excuse me for doing so before this assembly, made up almost exclusively of men. No woman resorts to abortion with joy. It is always a tragedy and will always be a tragedy."
As a Jewish woman and a survivor of Auschwitz concentration camp, Veil’s support for the legislation drew personal, often anti-Semitic, attacks and even death threats.
During the debates in parliament, lawmakers – many of them Catholic – made religious and moral arguments against legalising abortion.
But after concessions on adding a conscience clause for doctors who refused to perform the procedure, the bill was adopted with 284 votes for and 189 against. Support came largely from the left and centre, and opposition from d’Estaing’s right wing.
The bill was then approved by the Senate, coming into force on 17 January, 1975 for five years, and was made permanent in 1979.
Subsequent laws extended these rights, reducing a stipulated waiting period and allowing voluntary abortions until 14 weeks of pregnancy.
Beyond that period, two doctors and a psychologist may approve the procedure if there is a risk to the health of the mother, or if the foetus is expected to suffer from an incurable disorder.
Access issues remain
In March of this year, the right to abortion was enshrined in the constitution, although access remains uneven.
Why changing the constitution doesn't guarantee access to abortion in France
Over the last 50 years, “the means of accessing abortion have changed,” according to France's demographics institute, Ined, in a study published on Wednesday.
Today most abortions in France are carried out using medication, before seven weeks of pregnancy have passed, and are provided outside of hospitals, especially following the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, Ined warns, abortion access varies depending on location within France, “putting a constraint on the methods, conditions, and by extension the possibility to choose the way of ending a pregnancy”.
The numbers of abortions carried out in France have also been increasing since 2017, with 243,623 recorded in 2023.