In the 21st century, several reforms have taken place that have further liberalized access to abortion. The ten-week limit was extended to the twelfth week in 2001[12] and extended to fourteen weeks in 2022. [13] Also since 2001, underage girls no longer need mandatory parental consent. A pregnant girl under the age of 18 may request an abortion without prior consultation with her parents if she is accompanied to the clinic by an adult of her choice, who is not allowed to talk about the abortion to her parents or third parties. [3] [14] Until 2015, the law provided for a seven-day “cooling-off period” between the patient`s first request for an abortion and a written statement confirming her decision (the time limit could be reduced to two days if the patient was approaching 12 weeks). This mandatory waiting period was removed on April 9, 2015. [15] Mélanie Vogel, senator of the French Green Party Europe Ecology-The Greens (EELV), who drafted the Senate proposal, said that the need to protect abortion was not only a response to the threat to abortion rights in the United States: “This is also about Europe – the right to abortion has been pushed back in Poland and Hungary and could be threatened in Italy. If the France enshrined abortion as a constitutional right, it would send a very strong message to all feminist movements around the world that fight for this right or prevent it from being rejected. This would show that a path of progress is possible, not just regression. At the time of writing, the cost of a medical abortion (usually performed at home with pills) is around 200 euros. The cost of a surgical abortion can cost up to 660 euros. If you need an abortion in France, this pro-government site provides regularly updated information in French and English.
Anyone who questions or opposes access to abortion should keep in mind that abortions are performed for many reasons, including if the pregnancy puts the mother`s life at risk, or if the fetus has a serious health problem or malformation that affects its quality of life or significantly reduces its lifespan. Rape victims, including those whose rape is due to incest or domestic violence, may also need to terminate a pregnancy (the France has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in Europe). The original Veil law only allowed abortions during the first trimester and only for women classified as “in distress” – although in practice this gave sympathetic doctors a lot of discretion. The caution enshrined in the Veil Law – which included an evaluation and renewal after five years – likely helped give the public the opportunity to get used to the new rules. But the two nations are now in the process of parting. In March, with a possible Roe reversal on the horizon in the United States, the French National Assembly or Parliament expanded the Veil law to allow abortions up to 14 weeks (measured by the estimated date of conception, which in practice is about 16 weeks after a woman`s last menstrual period). Lawmakers also acted on the basis of a 2020 parliamentary report estimating that up to 4,000 French women travel abroad each year for an abortion because their pregnancy had exceeded the legal limit of 12 weeks. And last Saturday, a day after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, lawmakers from President Emmanuel Macron`s party — backed by his prime minister — introduced a measure that would enshrine abortion rights in France`s constitution. The new speaker of France`s lower house of parliament — the first woman to hold the post — vigorously defended abortion rights on Tuesday, urging the chamber to be “vigilant” to protect it from repentance. According to a frequently cited poll, 75% of French people support access to abortion.
Abortion in France is legal on demand for the first 14 weeks after conception. [1] [2] Abortions in the advanced stages of pregnancy until birth are permitted if two doctors certify that the abortion is performed to prevent harm to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman; danger to the life of the pregnant woman; or that the child suffers from a particularly serious illness recognized as incurable. [3] [4] [5] The abortion law was liberalized in 1975 by the Veil law. However, efforts to include abortion rights in France`s constitution may not succeed if Macron`s political rivals decide they don`t want to give him an easy victory.