France has become the first country in the world to enshrine the right to abortion in its constitution. The French Assembly overwhelmingly backed the amendment by 780 votes against 72 to amend the country’s 1958 Constitution, after which abortion rights activists celebrated the decision near Eiffel Tower in Paris which displayed the message ‘My Body My Choice’.
Although the right to abortion has been legal in France since 1975, 85% of French citizens voted for the protection of the right through the 25th amendment to the Constitution. Abortion is still illegal in 12 countries. India made the abortion legal in 1971, however, women could abort only up to the 12th week of their pregnancy. Later on, the law was reformed through amendments after women rights activists and organisations raised their voices over the limitations of the rule. The most recent change to this law was brought on March 17, 2021, when Rajya Sabha passed The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2021, via a voice vote. Before this amendment, women could abort the foetus of up to 20 weeks, but with the new amendment the extended time period is up to 24 weeks in certain physical and mental conditions. Interestingly, some of the women MPs had opposed this amendment when it was tabled in Rajya Sabha, but medical experts had opined that the new laws were more comfortable for women.
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It has to be said that the deep rooted narrative in Indian society that abortions are opted to hide unethical reasons is unfair and unjust. Or, that the right to abortion is only for married women is unfair too. Fortunately, the Supreme Court has clarified the need for the amendment in clear words. Any woman can become pregnant through sexual relations against her consent and so, the society should get rid of the misconception that only married women should be entitled to the right to abortion. There are also multiple other reasons why the right to abortion is crucial. For example, if a woman conceives after being raped, or if a pregnant woman has a life-threatening health conditions, or if the baby has a birth defect, etc, then abortion becomes a necessity. Needless to say that this requires doctors’ approval. One of the reasons why some of the women MPs opposed this amendment was because if a woman had to abort after 20 weeks of pregnancy then she required then approval of two doctors. And so, even though unauthorised abortions are illegal, a poor woman from a village would not be able to meet the requirements mentioned in the law.
Many women still illegally abort after testing amniotic fluid and especially those who expect a male child. Therefore, even though there have been tremendous improvements through reforms in the law, awareness is needed at ground level for people to truly understand the purpose of abortion.
The right to abort should be entirely the women’s decision. In a patriarchal country like ours, many decisions related to women are still taken by men, and so the question of how much the laws passed by men will benefit women still remains.
France’s decision to enshrine the respective right in their constitution grants French women their rightful freedom which is why the move has been celebrated as a gift two days before International Women’s Day.
