Around 250 people demonstrated in the streets of Ganges, in Hérault, on Saturday January 18. Their claim? The reopening of the maternity ward as soon as possible. On the one hand for births, but also to protect the right of access to abortion in the countryside, 50 years after the Veil law on decriminalization.
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For the 50th anniversary of the Veil law on abortion, these demonstrators would undoubtedly have preferred to celebrate the anniversary with joy. But despite the banners and the glitter, one demand sows anger in the procession: the reopening of the Ganges maternity ward.
It has been two years since the maternity ward of the Ganges clinic closed its doors, since the obstetrics department no longer had doctors. The maternity hospital recorded 300 births per year, and covered 74 surrounding municipalities.“Such a step backwards is astonishing. Yes, it’s hard to find gynecologists, but perhaps we should also put money where it is needed” vitupère Colinda, protester.
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The procession wandered through Ganges in Hérault, Saturday December 18.
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©Audrey Burla – Émilien David FTV
Without a maternity ward, some women are now forced to drive 2 hours to Montpellier to have an abortion. Something impossible for women alone and without vehicles. Added to this complication is the legal obligation to have three appointments before an abortion, which further restricts access for women in this area.
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It was not until January 17, 1975 that voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion) was decriminalized in France. The fight of a lifetime for Simone Veil.
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©HILARION Stéphane
“It’s a problem of public health and deterioration of women’s rights” laments Isabelle,
Spokesperson for the Maternity to Defend collective. No maternity ward also means less information given to pregnant women and/or women who would like to have an abortion, and therefore more risk-taking: “I wonder how women will find other means, will they not resort to clandestine methods?” worries Cléo, who plans to open a family planning center in Ganges.
The closure of the Ganges maternity ward is not isolated. On the contrary, it is the illustration of a global trend over the past 50 years in France: between 1972 and 2021, the number of maternity homes in Metropolitan France increased from 1,747 to 456, according to this study carried out by FranceInfo.
Among the explanations supported in the study, an overall drop in the birth rate over the same period but also a centralization of staff in large maternity hospitals, to the detriment of those in the countryside.
In Ganges, an obstetric service should reopen in a new clinic in the city by 2026.
