A historic day. This Monday, March 4, France became the first country in the world to include voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) in the Constitution. Senators and deputies met in Congress at Versailles to ratify this constitutional revision. Emmanuel Macron hailed “French pride” and announced a sealing ceremony open to the public on March 8.
The main information:
- Deputies and senators voted for the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution, during a Congress in Versailles
- The ceremony to seal the Constitution will take place on March 8, announces Emmanuel Macron
- The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, the first woman to preside over a Congress, opened the session with a speech
- Gabriel Attal also gave a speech
The public ceremony to seal the Constitution on March 8, announces Macron
A few minutes after the result of the Congress vote, President Emmanuel Macron indicated that the ceremony to seal the Constitution will be held on March 8, International Women’s Day. The Head of State immediately welcomed “French pride” and a “universal message”.
French pride, universal message.
Let us celebrate together the entry of a new freedom guaranteed in the Constitution by the first sealing ceremony in our history open to the public.
See you this March 8, International Women’s Rights Day. pic.twitter.com/dcwniEPei4
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 4, 2024
The Versailles Congress votes for the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution
The deputies and senators gathered at the Versailles Congress spoke out in favor of including the right to abortion in the Constitution. 780 parliamentarians voted for this inclusion, while 72 voted against, announced the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet at the end of the day. This historic vote was greeted with a standing ovation from the hemicycle.
A “promise” for “women who fight everywhere in the world”, says Mathilde Panot
Mathilde Panot, head of the LFI deputies, welcomed before the Congress in Versailles the future inclusion in the Constitution of the freedom to resort to abortion, “a promise” for “women who fight everywhere in the world”.
“Your struggle is ours. This victory is yours”, launched the LFI MP to the activists, wearing a green dress and a green scarf on the left wrist, in “tribute” in particular to the Argentine women who fight for this right. Mathilde Panot is at the origin of a bill on the constitutionalization of abortion adopted in 2022, a fight taken up by the government in its bill.
“A step that will go down in history”, assures Gabriel Attal
“We owe a moral debt” to all women who have “suffered in their flesh” from illegal abortions, said Monday Gabriel Attal, welcoming the “fundamental step” of the Congress which must validate the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution. “We have a moral debt to all these women, who suffered in their flesh as in their spirit, sometimes to the point of losing their lives,” declared the Prime Minister at the opening of the Congress in Versailles where the 925 deputies and senators.
“We are haunted by the suffering and by the memory of so many women who, for decades, suffered from not being able to be free,” he insisted, welcoming “the outcome of a long fight.” “The march of progress has done its job,” added Gabriel Attal, recalling the long march of activists to guarantee the right to abortion. “This is a fundamental step that we can take, a step that will go down in history.”
“Today France is a pioneer. Today, you will tell the world that yes, France is faithful to its heritage, to its identity as a nation, to no other country, a beacon of humanity, home of human rights. “man and also and above all women’s rights”, he added. The head of government arrived in Versailles accompanied by Simone Veil’s eldest son, Jean. “By guaranteeing the freedom to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy in our Constitution, we are giving a second victory to Simone Veil and all those who have paved the way.”
Nevertheless, almost 50 years after the adoption of the law on the legalization of abortion in France, “the freedom to abort remains in danger”, because “our freedoms are in essence threatened”, he stressed. . “This text is a shield against the makers of misfortune,” he said, calling for “never to fall asleep, never let down our guard, never suffer.”
Yaël Braun-Pivet opens the debates, first woman to chair a Congress
Yaël-Braun Pivet, president of the National Assembly, opened the Congress debates on Monday in Versailles to include the right to abortion in the Constitution.
France is “at the forefront, it is in its place”, greeted Yaël Braun-Pivet, stressing that she is the first woman in History to chair a Congress, the meeting of senators and deputies. “To the women of France, we say that we will never back down. To the women of the world, we say that we will support them and that we will always move forward alongside them,” she said.
The Eiffel Tower will have a ‘special twinkle’ as Congress votes
A message will be projected on the Eiffel Tower, with a “special sparkle”, at the time of the vote by Parliament meeting in Congress on the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution late Monday afternoon, the company said operating the Parisian monument.
“A specific message will be projected on the Tower with special flickering at 6:30 p.m., voting time” of this inscription in the Constitution of the voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG), a world first, before a “continuation of the projection with usual flickering “, that is to say “every first five minutes of each hour”, indicated the Eiffel Tower Operating Company (Sete), questioned by AFP.
Gabriel Attal arrives with Simone Veil’s son
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal arrived in Versailles, accompanied by Simone Veil’s son, Jean, a few minutes before the opening of a historic Congress aimed at including the “guaranteed freedom” to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy in the Constitution . Nearly 50 years ago, Simone Veil passed the law on the legalization of abortion in France.
The Congress is opened at 3:30 p.m. by the President of the Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, before a speech by the head of government and representatives of the different parliamentary groups.
Everything you need to know about the historic meeting
Transported from Paris to Versailles by around fifteen buses, the 925 parliamentarians will take their seats in the hemicycle of the Palace of Versailles at 3:30 p.m. Deputies and senators will sit in alphabetical order and not by political group. Everything you need to know about this historic meeting can be read in this article.