“The right to choose is vital. » In a climate of concern and vigilance, six months after the inclusion of voluntary interruption of pregnancy (IVG) in the Constitution, hundreds of people demonstrated, on Saturday, September 28, in Paris and in several French cities to defend the right to abortion.
On the occasion of the international day dedicated to this right, which continues to be hindered or even non-existent in some countries, the procession that started in the capital, calling for Abortion in Europe, women decide collectively, bringing together feminist associations and unions. The text of the call to demonstrate expresses concern because “sales” the conditions of the “guaranteed freedom” access to abortion enshrined in the Constitution in March, for the first time in the world.
Thomas Laurent, 44, an entertainment worker who wears a CGT pin, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that this inscription “will not prevent the abolition of state medical aid” (AME) which guarantees certain free care and under certain conditions to foreigners in an irregular situation.
“A cause for concern” because “Undocumented women will no longer have access to gynecological care and abortion”said. This fear is reflected in the multiplication of signs. “Hands off the SOUL” AND “the right to health, with or without papers”in a procession mostly female and young.
“Acquired rights” “fully preserved”
Bringing together several hundred people, the Toulouse meeting, with its posters “IVG penalized sacrificed women”EITHER “my body my choice”She was accompanied by the environmentalist deputy Sandrine Rousseau. “We see that there are many countries in which the right to abortion is decreasing because with the rise of the extreme right, the right to abortion is decreasing”he told AFP.
This demonstration means “that we are aware that it is a right that can be questioned at any time and that we will not renounce”warned, highlighting the entry into Michel Barnier’s government of “strange deputies and senators” WHO “voted against the constitutionalization of abortion”quoting Annie Genevard and Bruno Retailleau.
In Lille, where about 150 people demonstrated, the “Resignation of parliamentarians who voted against abortion in the Constitution” in March it was requested during speeches. “You don’t want me to have an abortion so get married.”EITHER “The right to choose is vital”several posters proclaimed. In Nice, according to the police, a hundred people gathered to express their “Solidarity with women around the world”.
According to official figures, 243,623 abortions were performed in France in 2023, 8,600 more than in 2022. But for feminist associations and 89% of French people, obstacles persist, especially in terms of structures and deadlines, according to an IFOP barometer published by Family Planning. The Alliance Vita association, which fights against abortion, maintains, on the contrary, that access has been restricted “simplified, even trivialized”. The Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, assured that the “acquired rights”particularly in matters of abortion, it would be “completely preserved”.
