Abortion : The Urgency is for Prevention Not for Making Abortion a Constitution Right

The French President has today reaffirmed his wish for abortion right to be included in the French Constitution “as soon as possible“. This statement goes against the concerning figures published last week by the DREES (Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics): In 2022, some 234,300 abortions were performed in France, and the proportion of abortions reached its highest level since 1990, i.e. 16.9 abortions per 1000 women of child-bearing age.

It should be said that making abortion a constitution right, when the availability of abortion is not in any way under threat, is totally disconnected from the reality in the field. Before taking any measures concerning an act which is far from trivial and which jeopardises human lives, the political priority should be to conduct an impartial study to analyse the causes, the conditions and the consequences of abortion in France.

The DREES revealed in 2020 that women with the smallest incomes are more likely to resort to abortion than those who are wealthier. In an economic context suffering from persistent inflation which is eroding the buying power of the French people, how can one be satisfied that abortion should become a marker of social inequality?

According to Alliance VITA, who for more than 20 years have accompanied women and couples confronted with unexpected pregnancies, the difficult issue of abortion deserves better than its exploitation for political purposes. We have also noted that pregnant women confronted with an unexpected pregnancy resort to abortion only reluctantly, under social pressure or under pressure from their family circle.

Instead of including abortion right in the French Constitution, it is urgent to establish a true abortion prevention policy aimed at avoiding a large number of personal tragedies by presenting other alternatives to the women concerned.