opponents of abortion gathered in Paris during a “march for life”

Fifty years after the Veil law, several thousand opponents of abortion demonstrated on Sunday in Paris as part of the “walk for life”. The demonstration is organized each year around the anniversary of the law relating to voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) and promulgated on January 17, 1975. This year, it also aims to denounce the desire to relaunch the parliamentary debate on the law relating to the end of life. According to its organizers, it could bring together more than 10,000 people this year.

“IVG, that’s enough, we’re walking for life”, “euthanasia, law of contempt”: singing these slogans, the procession of this demonstration, organized by activists belonging to the conservative Catholic ranks, left around 2 p.m. from the Place du Trocadéro, in Paris.

“There is no policy that really deters”

Speaking on a podium, the president of the March for Life, Nicolas Tardy-Joubert said he did not have “afraid to say that abortion is the leading cause of death in France for the human species”. According to the latest official figures, 243,623 abortions were recorded in 2023, or 8,600 more than the previous year. “This year 2025 is very special. 50 years ago, the Veil law which decriminalized abortion was promulgated. This law caused heavy human losses and led to the death and exclusion of more than 10 million babies from French society.he told the crowd before they respected a minute of silence.

In addition to opposition to abortion, the organizers of the “walk for life” are demanding, like last year, a compulsory ultrasound from the sixth week of pregnancy, allowing“hearing the fetal heart beat”or a reflection period of three days before any abortion. They also call for “encourage childbirth under X” and to defend “the absolute right to conscientious objection of health personnel and protect the specific conscience clause.”

Rejection of any “legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia”

Another subject also on the agenda of the demonstration, the rejection of any “legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia” and the call to “a great plan to make palliative care accessible” to everyone. “For us, the ban on killing must remain a foundation of our society”insists Nicolas Tardy-Joubert.

Supported by the Attal government, an “end of life” bill was to legalize assisted suicide and, in certain cases, euthanasia, with strict conditions and without using these terms, preferring to speak of“active assistance in dying”. Its examination was interrupted by the dissolution of the National Assembly in June 2024.

In his general policy declaration on Tuesday, the Prime Minister, François Bayrou, did not comment on this sensitive subject, neither on the examination deadline nor on the substance, returning the text “with the power of initiative” of Parliament.