US EditionFrance Exonerates Women Convicted over Abortions Before Legalisation
More than 11,660 people convicted for abortions before 1975 are exonerated in recognition of infringed women's health and rights, with a commission to preserve their memories.
- On December 18, the National Assembly unanimously approved a bill exonerating women punished for abortions before it was legalized in 1975, finalising a proposal accepted by the Senate in March and backed by the government.
- Long before the vote, activists mobilised on April 21, 1974, when MLAC led a Paris demonstration with more than 3,000 participants, and Claudine Monteil was among the 343 women who signed a 1971 open letter.
- The bill's text recognises that previous enforcement infringed women's health and autonomy, noting numerous deaths and establishing a commission to collect memories but not offer reparations.
- Aurore Berge, minister-delegate for gender equality, said `is an act of justice toward those thousands of lives shattered by unjust laws`, and feminist groups welcomed the move, with the Women's Foundation stating `France is sending a clear message, at home and abroad: no one should ever be convicted for having an abortion`.
- Official estimates show more than 11,660 convictions between 1870 and 1975, as the European Parliament this week urged EU access to `safe` abortions amid global rollbacks.
29 Articles
29 Articles
France has taken a momentous step in its history this Thursday with regard to abortion. The country has passed a law that exempts all women convicted for carrying out this practice before the abortion legislation of 1975 was applied. This law is known as the Veil Law, which is named after its promoter, Simone Veil, and served to decriminalize it. The French already shielded this right last year, including in its Constitution the “freedom guarant…
On Thursday, 18 December, the French parliament adopted a draft law exonerating women convicted of abortion before its legalization in 1975. The measure was welcomed by women's organisations, which consider it...
French parliament unanimously exonerates women punished for abortion
French lawmakers have unanimously approved a landmark bill exonerating women who were punished for having abortions before the procedure was legalised in 1975 – a move hailed by feminist groups as a symbolic affirmation of reproductive rights.
The French Parliament adopted, unanimously, a bill exonerating pre-licensed women's abortion before their legalization in 1975, a healthy decision by women's organisations entitled to a reparation for reproductive rights. Between 1870 and 1975, more than 11.660 persons were convicted of committing or requesting abortion, according to official estimates, reports Le Monde.
Almost 12,000 French women who were convicted of an illegal abortion at that time have been symbolically rehabilitated. On Thursday, the French parliament passed a law that recognises that the ban on abortion, which was in force until 1975, violated women's rights and endangered their health and lives. The ban had led to "numerous deaths" and "great physical and mental suffering", the text of the law states. The National Assembly unanimously vot…
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