Feminist rally in Paris in support of abortion rights bill

Activists were gathered in Paris to support a bill for abortion rights, the difficulty of access to the procedure was at the centre of the debate.

Feminists and pro-choice activists were gathered this Saturday 26th September between 3 and 5 pm, on Place de la République in Paris to support a bill in favour of abortion rights which will be presented at the National Assembly on October 8th. 

If passed, this bill aiming at “improving the effectiveness of the abortion right” as stated on the National Assembly’s website, plans on extending the deadline from 12 to 14 weeks and to remove the conscience double clause which is a specific clause for abortion added to the general conscience clause in 1975 when the Simone Veil law legalizing abortion was passed. The general conscience clause allows medical professionals to refuse to practice procedures, such as abortions, sterilisations or assisted-medical procreations if they think it goes against their convictions or beliefs.

The rally was organized by women from the pro-choice organisation “Avortement Europe: les Femmes décident” who prepared a speech in support of the bill and denouncing the increasing difficulty of access to abortion because of the short deadline, the population’s lack of information and the abortions centres closing one after the other creating a medical desertification phenomenon in rural areas. According to them, the conscience double clause was only implemented as a mean to an end to legalize abortion in 1975 and is useless nowadays.

“The access to abortion is indeed threatened (…) the right for women to dispose of their own bodies, which is fundamental, is constantly (…) threatened by the religious right and reactionaries (…) as we can see with the “Marche pour la vie” annual protest,” said Agathe, one of the feminist activists in the public.

“The ideal thing would be on a case-by-case basis rather than a fixed deadline because each case is different” According to Annie-France Cheriki, the French-American representative from Avortement Europe : les Femmes décident “We need to prevent the religious influence trying to take away our choice. I fight for abortion for women of course but mainly because I don’t want children to be brought up in this world in poverty and sadness…”

The rally ended with chants such as the Women’s Hymn and dances led by the feminist organisation Alerta Feminista and last words from the organizers “We will organize another gathering on October 8th when the bill will be debated at the National Assembly.”