Recently, France is preparing to become the first country in the world to include the right to abortion in its constitution. On the 4th, France's ** Macron convened members of the upper and lower houses for a special session at the Palace of Versailles. If, as expected, a majority of 3 5 votes is in favor of the ** motion, then the 1958 French Constitution will be amended to include the "guaranteed freedom" of women's abortion. This will be the 25th amendment to the founding document of the Fifth Republic and the first since 2008.
Two years ago, spurred on by the end of federal abortion protections in the United States, supporters were excited about the revision, which they saw as a legal safeguard against a similar backsliding in France, the BBC reported. According to the poll, about 85% of the French people surveyed support the reform.
The main focus of the opposition is on the political side – Macron's move has been accused of being a demeaning act of disparaging the constitution because he has electoral aims. Critics say the revision itself isn't necessarily wrong, but it's not necessary, and they argue, trying to use this to boost its left-wing influence and eliminate anti-abortion voices.
Currently, Macron lacks a majority in the National Assembly, so it will be relatively difficult to enact any reform into law. At the same time, the reshuffle he carried out in January also leaned it to the right.
The passage of two controversial laws, pensions and immigration, last year has upset members of the left wing of his Ba'ath Party. For them, the abortion amendment is now welcome and can bring some kind of balance.
One left-wing party member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "It is a great relief that this kind of party-wide agreement once again demonstrates our unity." There has always been a lot of tension within the Baath Party, but now we can remind ourselves that we share common values. ”
However, when the left has a majority in parliament, Macron is not only supporting the left, but also setting up a situation.
As Europe approaches in June, Macron hopes that constitutional amendments through abortion rights will help create a clear gap between his party and its main rival, Marine Le Pen's far-right. If enough right-wing and far-right parliamentarians oppose reform, then they can easily be seen as reactionary. Unfortunately, Le Pen's National Alliance (RN) and conservative Republican Party (KLR) failed to take the bait.
In the parliamentary and senate debates leading up to the extraordinary session on the 4th, a majority of right-wing lawmakers voted for the bill.
Editor: Shen Tian).