February 10, 2022
Abortion Law: Alliance VITA denounces forcing through the new abortion law and calls for a genuine abortion prevention policy
After 1½ years of parliamentary bitter rows, the new abortion bill “aiming at strengthening the right to abortion” was submitted by a minority group and finally voted by the deputies, with France’s presidential election just two months away. Alliance VITA finds disgraceful the way the government used the abortion issue at the very end of this 5-year term to be. All the more so as President Macron, on several occasions, had voiced his opposition to extending the abortion time limit, saying it was ” more traumatizing” for women to terminate pregnancies at a later point. But surprisingly the government decided to back the law and push it through last December, without bothering to carry out an evaluation of its’ impact.
Extending abortion deadlines is a hard hit against women, especially since this law does not include any support for women who would prefer not to abort. As the abortion rates in France are more than double the rate in Germany, the emotional issue of abortion deserves better than a fake debate manipulated for political purposes which are completely out of touch with the real life of pregnant women.
A study published in 2019 clearly demonstrated that women with the lowest standards of living had recourse to abortion more often, thus establishing that abortion is a distinctive marker of social inequality. Consequently, this must be dealt with accordingly, and not reduced to the questionable status of a “right” that turns a deaf ear to the voice of pregnant women facing an unexpected pregnancy and who reluctantly turn to abortion. Ignoring this reality is a serious injustice, considering the fact that abortion is an irreversible act where lives are at stake.
Moreover, in October 2020, an IFOP survey revealed that 92% of the French people surveyed believe that abortion leaves psychological scars that are difficult for women to live with and 73% believe that society should do more to help women avoid abortion.
Caroline Roux, Alliance VITA’s Assistant General Delegate insists:
“It is illusory to think that all women abort of their own free will and after a deliberate personal choice. Rather than extending deadlines, it is urgent is to protect women from all kinds of violence, including pressure from their partner to abort against their will, as well as from social and economic hardships. It is urgent to carry out a real epidemiological study of the causes, conditions and consequences of abortion. During the presidential campaign, we call for implementing a genuine abortion prevention policy, including easier access to information on pregnant women’s rights and social assistance available to them.”
