In an overwhelming 780-72 vote, the French parliament has just enshrined a “right” to abortion in the nation’s constitution. It is the first country in the world to do so.
Why? Was there a push to outlaw abortion, which has been legal in France since the 1970s? Was there an effort to lower France’s gestational restriction, which had recently expanded abortion from 12 weeks to 16 weeks of pregnancy? No and no. The push to make abortion a constitutional right was a direct response to the United States Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.
It could be tempting to write off this development. Abortion wasn’t “threatened” in any way in France. Speaking to Reuters, Association of Catholic Families President Pascale Moriniere put it bluntly: “We imported a debate that is not French,” casting the entire exercise as “an effect of panic from feminist movements.”
The BBC noted that some jurists in France actually believed that abortion was already a constitutional right. If the change to the constitution isn’t actually, well, changing much, is this simply another example of liberal “virtue-signaling”?
It would be a mistake to shrug our shoulders or chuckle that Justice Samuel Alito (who wrote the Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturning Roe) lives rent-free in the heads of liberals across the pond just like he does here at home.
What happened in France could kick-start a domino effect of more countries enshrining abortion in their constitutions.
We see abortion activists already following this playbook in U.S. states. Pro-lifers have lost multiple ballot initiatives post-Dobbs, with states enshrining abortion in their constitutions. It’s not just blue states like California. It happened in Ohio, where Republicans have control of the state Senate, House, and governorship.
When there’s blood in the water, abortion activists gather for a feeding frenzy. States with strong pro-life laws like Florida, Arizona, and Missouri could be next if these activists get their way.
On the international stage, the calculation is no different. Momentum matters.
As I stated previously, now that France has enshrined abortion as a fundamental constitutional right, we can expect to see similar efforts in other countries. Right now, 47 out of 50 European countries allow abortion up to about 15 weeks. This is far from the permissive abortion free-for-all in America under the former Roe regime—a free-for-all still allowed in many liberal states even with Roe overturned. When given an inch, pro-abortion agitators will try to take a mile.
There’s something sadly poignant that France, of all countries, is leading the race to the bottom when it comes to abortion. It was French scientists—and the French government—who strong-armed the chemical abortion pill onto the market in the 1980s. Since then, the abortion pill has hurt countless women, girls, and, of course, unborn children.
First with the abortion pill and now first with a nationwide constitutional protection for abortion, France has been innovative and groundbreaking in all the wrong ways. Let’s hope that pro-lifers here in America, and across the world, see this latest stunt for what it is: a warning shot that pro-abortion forces are loud, proud, and coming for your constitution … wherever you are.
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