On the occasion of the inclusion in the Constitution of the right to abortion, Emmanuel Macron wanted to pay tribute to the women who fought throughout their lives for women’s rights, as explained by the Élysée at HuffPost March 7, 2024: “Women who have disappeared but whose fight, their lives, their commitment were decisive for the success of this constitutional law.” Olympe de Gouges, who carried the “declaration of the rights of women and citizens” in 1791, Gisèle Halimi who “dedicated her life to defending women’s rights”, but also Simone Veil are part of this list. “Their grave will be decorated with flowers. Their memory will be honored.”, promised the Élysée. But during this time, acts of vandalism were to be deplored.
Thursday March 7, 2024, the statue of Simone Veil located in La Roche-sur-Yon, in Vendée, was vandalized. It was covered withan inscription expressing indignation at the promulgation of the right to abortion in the Constitution : “The Constitution is killing our children“, we can read. The inscription was made with red paint, as reported by our colleagues from the newspaper The Parisian, Saturday March 9, 2024. This gesture was quickly claimed by the far-right royalist movement, L’Action française de Vendée, in a video. In these images people appear placing infant dolls, covered in red paint. The water in the fountain, next to which the statue was placed, was also colored red. At the end of the video, a message appears: “Woe to the people who sacrifice their children“.
Simone Veil, target of vandalism
The mayor of La Roche-sur-Yon, Luc Bouard, quickly reacted to this act of vandalism and this attack on the political and social work carried out by Simone Veil throughout her career. From the morning of Friday March 8, 2024, municipal workers cleaned the monument erected in honor of the politician. The mayor also indicated to theAFP having filed a complaint against the people who committed this act of vandalism. “Outrage at this odious staging around the bust of Simone Veil. This sickening act cannot be tolerated! The legacy of this remarkable woman must be preserved and celebrated.”, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. This is not the only place that pays tribute to Simone Veil to have been damaged. An avenue plaque bearing his name was torn down in Grau-du-Roi in Gard. As a reminder, Simone Veil supported the bill to decriminalize abortion until its adoption in January 1975.