That is, the problem is not taken lightly. A 2021 survey shows that 92% think an abortion is traumatic and 88% want to do more to prevent it from being necessary. Abortion has decreased in France among women over 25 years of age, while the practice among young women (18-25 years) is increasing. Meanwhile, the abortion rate for minors has declined since the 1990s or early 2000s. PIP: In France, according to a law passed by Parliament in 1975, a woman can have an abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy if she resides in France and, if she is a minor, she has parental consent. The woman must also have 2 medical consultations with an interval of one week. The woman is reimbursed by the State up to 70% of the cost of the abortion. After 12 weeks, abortion, with the exception of therapeutic abortion, is a crime punishable by 6 months to 10 years imprisonment, a fine of 1800 to 250,000 francs and the loss of the professional license, according to Article 317 of the Criminal Code. In addition, article 647 of the Health Code prohibits any advertising, incitement or propaganda for abortion or abortion-promoting products. Many French women travel to the UK or the Netherlands for abortions after 12 weeks, but they face the financial burden of travel, as well as the difficulties of getting help in a foreign country and the stigma of doing something illegal. The French Movement for Family Planning, which won the legalization of contraception in 1967, is now fighting for legal abortion and the dissemination of information about sexuality, contraception and abortion in schools. 2 The organization was charged with inciting abortion.

Read: What a History of Abortion Activism from the 1970s Can Teach Us Today French law allows all women to have access to abortion. That said, it becomes more complicated if your pregnancy has exceeded the legal limit of 14 weeks. And while abortions are free for French nationals, residents and in some other cases, most foreigners usually have to pay. “Simone Veil knew, however, that in this noble struggle for human rights, half of humanity was stubbornly forgotten: women. She had seen her submission and humiliation, she herself was confronted with inequalities that she considered absurd and outdated. It was therefore built in such a way that justice could be done to women, to all women. (…) For women wounded in their flesh, in their souls, by angel makers, for women who had to hide their need or shame and whom they rescued from their suffering by carrying the bill for abortion with admirable force, at the request of President Valéry Giscard d`Estaing and with the support of Prime Minister Jacques Chirac. Justice for women who are unsure of their rights and place in society, for women who are sidelined by laws, stereotypes and conventions. Justice for all the women of the world who are martyred, wounded, sold, maimed.

“The French system is far from perfect. The 2020 National Assembly report noted that there were not enough doctors performing abortions and that many members of the generation inspired by the Veil law are retiring. “Abortion often appears to be simply `tolerated` in France, but it is not always guaranteed,” the authors conclude. But the France is going in the right direction, in a way that seems extremely convenient for an American who lives there, which I have been for many years. When the government found that some young women were not using contraception because it was too expensive, the state made birth control completely free for women under 26. Minors who want a morning-after pill simply go to a pharmacy and ask for one. Shortly after I was born in France, a maternity nurse asked me what type of contraceptive I wanted to use, and then gave me a prescription. However, efforts to include abortion rights in France`s constitution may not succeed if Macron`s political rivals decide they don`t want to give him an easy victory. After 9 parliamentary sessions with heated debates, the law was passed and passed on January 17, 1975 with a five-year test. It was later confirmed in 1979. It was official, it was the result of all these actions: abortion was legal.

The battle was won legally. Seventeenth January 1975. French citizens will remember this day for a long time. It was also a key date for French feminist movements. On 17 January 1975, Health Minister Simone Veil successfully passed a law decriminalising abortion. This law, which marked both a change of law and mentality, was the result of enormous work, protests, changes, public debates. And even when the vote was in 1975, not all mentalities had changed. Many changes followed, suggesting that mentalities on this very sensitive subject could still develop. Let`s try to trace the history of abortion in France to understand the issues it raised before and after the law was passed.

In the decades since the early `70s, support for abortion has consolidated in France — far more than in the United States. About 60% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases; In a French poll last year, 93 percent of respondents said they were “attached” to abortion rights, and 81 percent said the right needed to be further strengthened. Whatever you think about abortion, it`s very unlikely that you`ll feel uncomfortable during a typical visit or day in France. The primary difference is religion. The France in the early 1970s was still a fairly Catholic country, and from the beginning, abortion had staunch opponents who, as Pavard put it, “advanced the idea that abortion was murder, that it went against nature and God, that it was wrong.” The right to abortion in France hardly seems to be threatened – it has been enshrined in law for 47 years and enjoys broad support across the political spectrum. But more and more French women are wondering: Could this be what happened in the United States? Will you ever get here? On the far left, lawmakers noted that Macron`s party had rejected previous efforts to enshrine abortion in the constitution. Mathilde Panot, leader of the radical left-wing France Insoumise group, is now urging Borne to propose a government bill on the issue, rather than a bill from parliament, which would speed up the process. Abortion was legalized in France in 1975. In February 2022, the abortion limit was extended from 12 to 14 weeks. After that, a woman can still get an abortion if the pregnancy is considered a threat to her physical or mental health, or if the health of the fetus is affected. Through this additional manifesto, we were able to see that abortion was a reality in France, even though the law prohibited it. It really confirmed what the campaigners were advocating: the idea that this law was simply dangerous and no longer fit for purpose.

At the time of writing, the cost of a medical abortion (usually performed at home with pills) is around 200 euros. The cost of a surgical abortion can cost up to 660 euros. If you need an abortion in France, this pro-government site provides regularly updated information in French and English. “This is a very free subject in my family, and my sister, who had an abortion, did not suffer from it at home, even though she had a personal shame that should not be there, there was no judgment, no shame. This is a subject that comes up quite regularly and freely. Two appointments are required to obtain an abortion, and these can be either with a doctor (or your primary care doctor/GP or another), a midwife, or at a family planning clinic.