September 28 celebrates the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion), authorized in France since January 17, 1975 and enshrined in the Constitution on March 8, 2024. But despite progress in the law, the Family Planning association highlights the inequalities access to abortion and his fears for the future.
The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection
Every day, our editorial team reserves the best regional news for you. A selection just for you, to stay in touch with your regions.
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you the newsletter “The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection”. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. Our privacy policy
“NWe can no longer turn a blind eye to the three hundred thousand abortions which, every year, mutilate the women of this country, which flout our laws and which humiliate or traumatize those who resort to them.“, affirmed Simone Veil, in 1974, from the podium of the National Assembly, in the speech presenting the law which will open this right to French women.
Nearly fifty years later, the freedom to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy is enshrined in the Constitution and 243,623 abortions were performed in France in 2023, according to the Drees (directorate of research, studies, evaluation and statistics). A figure which has remained generally stable for twenty years, with a slight increase in 2023.
However, on the occasion of International Abortion Rights Day, Lucie Houlbrèque, volunteer at Amiens Family Planning, expresses her concerns for the future. “We are asking for financial guarantees. Inscribing the right, guaranteeing the right, is not inscribing the means of this rightshe notes. If we do not train more caregivers, if we do not open more centers, if we do not provide better sexuality education, we cannot guarantee this right.“
To prepare for this international day, Family Planning commissioned a barometer from the IPSOS polling institute: it shows that many obstacles persist in effective access to abortion.
One of the obstacles cited is the lack of structures; Family Planning estimates that at the national level, 130 centers practicing abortion have been closed in fifteen years. The newspaper Le Monde, for its part, identified 45 closures of hospitals practicing abortion between 2007 and 2017. A situation which particularly impacts women in rural areas.
“In Hauts-de-France, we see that in Aisne, it is more difficult to access them, because the IVG centers are far away.indicates Lucie Houlbrèque. It is also a more rural area, this difficulty in accessing care is common to the most rural areas. You should know that abortion is a treatment that is urgent, since we have a deadline for abortion, up to fourteen weeks.“
Volunteer at family planning in Amiens, Lucie Houlbrèque underlines the fragility of the right to abortion while the resources allocated to it remain insufficient.
•
© FTV
She regrets that the average waiting time before having access to an abortion is seven days, two more than the five days recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the Family Planning barometer, more than half of women had to wait more than seven days before obtaining an appointment.
“In France, the main explanation for the difficulties in accessing abortion essentially results from disinterest in a medical procedure that is poorly valued and considered to be of little value. The burden of effectively maintaining this right rests essentially on a handful of activist practitioners, many of whom will soon be retired.” underlined a parliamentary report carried out in 2020.
In Picardy, according to the latest data from the Drees, the number of abortions remains stable in the Somme (1713 in 2023 compared to 1733 in 2022), but it is increasing in the Oise and in the Aisne, as in national level. In these last two departments, around 200 additional abortions were performed in 2023, compared to the previous year.
For Lucie Houlbrèque, these increases reflect above all a lack of prevention: “This is not alarming in itself, abortion is an event in a woman’s life, not a tragedy. On the other hand, this means that we still need sexuality education. We also need the law to really be put in place, the law which allows these sexuality education classes in middle and high schools: this is normally three times a year. You can ask your kids, that’s not the case.“An analysis based on data: a 2022 study shows that despite the 21 sex education sessions provided for the entire school education by the 2001 law, students only benefit from 2.7 sessions on average.
Another lesson from the barometer: more than a third of women who have had an abortion say they have been pressured and 63% fear being judged by those around them or their professional environment. 27% had to face a refusal of support from a healthcare professional.
These figures reflect a reality which contrasts with the progress of rights: abortion is not fully accepted by French society. “Reduce stigmatization of women” is also the first avenue mentioned to remove the obstacles to abortion, when the study questions those who have had recourse to it. “In fact, abortion very often appears to be simply “tolerated” in France, but not always guaranteed“, also indicates the 2020 parliamentary report.
“We, feminist associations and in particular Family Planning, are very worried about this new government.finally adds Lucie Houlbrèque. Several members of the government are against abortion, they voted against it, against access to rights.“Three ministers in the Barnier government voted against its inclusion in the Constitution, including the Minister of Higher Education, Patrick Hetzelf, and the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau.
In the barometer published by Family Planning, 51% of women questioned who had had an abortion fear a decline in this right in the near future in France.
