France has formally recognised abortion as a fundamental right for women in the country.

 

This development makes the country the first in the world to include explicit protection for terminating a pregnancy in its fundamental legislation.

 

On Monday, French parliamentarians approved the bill by a vote of 780-72, with practically the whole joint session rising in a long ovation.

 

Women’s rights advocates celebrated jubilantly across France, hailing the action promised by President Emmanuel Macron in response to a reversal of abortion rights in US court rulings.

 

Both houses of parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate have already passed legislation amending Article 34 of the French Constitution to ensure a woman’s right to abortion

 

In the run-up to the historic vote, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal addressed the 925 legislators assembled for the joint session in Versailles, urging them to make France a leader in women’s rights and set an example for other countries to follow.

 

“We have a moral debt to women,” Attal said. He paid tribute to Simone Veil, a prominent legislator, former health minister and key feminist who in 1975 championed the bill that decriminalized abortion in France.

 

“We have a chance to change history. Make Simone Veil proud,” Attal added.

 

The lower chamber of parliament, the National Assembly, overwhelmingly approved the idea in January.

 

The Senate passed the bill on Wednesday, removing a major roadblock to Macron’s promised legislation to make “a woman’s right to have an abortion irreversible.