The Constitutionalization of abortion in France. What are the issues?

Abstract

The legislative framework of voluntary interruption of pregnancy has undergone important changes, allowing its transition of a reprehensible act into a consecrated freedom by the law. Motivated by a foreign decision questioning abortion, a movement calling for the “constitutionalization of abortion” re-initiated the debate on the subject. Constitutionalization of abortion is a legal process that allows abortion to be written into the Constitution. While this process is often used in countries where reproductive rights are challenged, this is not the case in the French legal system. Thus, this approach is controversial, particularly because of its procedural and substantive implications, which bring into confrontation different political, ethical and legal issues.