The Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) expressed its “sadness” on Thursday, after the vote of senators in favor of including voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) in the Constitution.
“Abortion, which remains an attack on life at its beginning, cannot be seen solely from the angle of women’s rights,” insists the body of the Catholic Church in a press release.
The constitutional revision aimed at including a “guaranteed freedom” to resort to abortion in the Constitution was approved on Wednesday in the Senate, after an almost unanimous vote in the National Assembly. Both houses of Parliament will meet for a final, suspense-free vote on Monday, four days before March 8, International Women’s Day.
“As the numerous forms of violence against women and children come to light, the Constitution of our country would have been honored to include the protection of women and children at its heart,” continues the CEF.
« Elimination pure et simple »
She further promises to remain “attentive to respecting the freedom of choice of parents deciding, even in difficult situations, to keep their child, and the freedom of conscience of doctors and all healthcare personnel, to whom she welcomes courage and commitment. »
An amendment by the Republicans (LR) aimed at protecting the conscience clause of doctors was not accepted in the Senate. The CEF also regrets that the debate “did not mention support measures for those who would like to keep their child”.
In recent months, several bishops have spoken out against the inclusion of the right to abortion in the Constitution, a commitment made on March 8, 2023 by Emmanuel Macron. It is “an admission of weakness in our ability to calmly debate the subject of abortion,” said the Archbishop of Rennes, Pierre d’Ornellas, speaking to Vatican Radio in October. In December, the Bishop of Bayonne, Marc Aillet, described abortion as “pure and simple elimination of a human being” in a press release.
In France, where the act has been legal since the Veil law in 1975, the number of abortions has remained relatively stable for around twenty years, around 230,000 per year.