in Paris, several thousand opponents of abortion in the street

Several thousand people marched through the streets of Paris on Sunday January 21 for the “March for Life”, the annual gathering of opponents of abortion, at the call of Catholic and conservative collectives and associations. This year, demonstrators came to denounce the bill to constitutionalize abortion, while deputies are due to debate the text on Wednesday.

Amid the traditional pro-life slogans, a slogan this year : “Yes to prevention, no to constitutionalization.” Nicolas Tardy Joubert is the president of this “march for life”. For him, access to abortion is not at all threatened in France, he is therefore opposed to this bill : “It is indecent because we have 234 000 abortions per year in France and therefore, we must put in place prevention policies because it always remains a tragedy. We call for a major study to be carried out to better understand the causes and consequences of abortion. It cannot be a freedom, it cannot be a right in that sense.”

Procession disrupted by four Femen

Message carried by many families and young people in the procession, like Marilice, 17 years old : “We especially don’t judge women who have abortions because inevitably there are causes and it’s extremely hard psychologically. Our goal is really to show them that we can help them.” A speech that was disrupted by four Femen at the start of the march, quickly arrested by security.

Another hot topic in the procession: the law on the end of life. “Our politicians no longer even have the courage to protect life”, exclaims Aude. She calls for alternatives to euthanasia : “Already, further develop palliative care so that the person who is at the end of life can die with dignity. All that there is is insufficient.” The government must present its text on the subject next February.