what are the next steps before the “guaranteed freedom” to abort is enshrined in the Constitution?

A long legislative road. Barring any surprises, MPs should ask, Tuesday January 30, a new step towards the inclusion in the Constitution of “guaranteed freedom” for women to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG). The National Assembly must decide, at first reading, on this constitutional reform project carried by the government.

If adopted, the text desired by Emmanuel Macron will then be transmitted to the Senate, dominated by the right and the center, where it must be adopted in the same terms. A convocation of Congress constitutes the final passage. Franceinfo summarizes the upcoming calendar.

1 Adoption of the text without suspense in the Assembly

In a context of calling into question the right to abortion in certain Western countries, particularly in the United States, Emmanuel Macron announced at the end of October 2023 that he would submit a bill to the Council of State to enshrine in the Constitution there “freedom of women to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy”. Ultimately, the government’s text plans to include in the Constitution the fact that “the law determines the conditions under which the freedom guaranteed to women to have recourse is exercised” to abortion.

This formulation was chosen in an attempt to find a middle path between two options. At the end of 2022, the National Assembly voted by a large majority a proposal from La France insoumise (LFI) which aimed to guarantee the“access to the right to abortion”. For its part, the Senate had approved at the beginning of 2023 a version not mentioning “right to abortion” but the “freedom of a woman to terminate her pregnancy”.

The government therefore adopted the version by adding the notion of freedom “guarantee”this word in front “create a shield (…) which protects the right to abortion as it is defined today (deadlines, reimbursements, etc.)”the rapporteur of the text, MP Guillaume Gouffier-Valente (Renaissance), told AFP.

A positive signal for the executive, the wording proposed by the government has already been validated by the deputies on the night of January 24 to 25, during the examination of the text. The left should therefore largely support the proposal on Tuesday, during the solemn vote, even if in its ranks (and those of the Liot group), some recalled that they would have preferred the notion of “right” to that of “freedom”. Elected officials on the right and far right could be divided, with some worrying that the constitutionalization of the use of abortion will ultimately lead to possible extensions of the legal duration for an abortion, or a postponement of because of the conscience clause of caregivers refusing to practice it.

2 A riskier examination in the Senate

The debates should, on the other hand, prove more complicated in the Senate, where the text should arrive on February 28. The text must be adopted in the same terms by both chambers. Will right-wing senators accept the notion of “guaranteed freedom”? The formula raises eyebrows from Les Républicains (LR) senator Philippe Bas. Questioned in mid-September on Public Senate, he affirmed that he “will not accept[it] not anything”.

“I am for the recognition of a controlled freedom, not for the recognition of an unlimited, absolute or enforceable right.”

Philippe Bas, senator LR

on Public Senate

Tuesday January 23, the President of the Senate also reiterated his opposition to the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution. “Abortion is not threatened in our country. If it were threatened, believe me, I would fight for it to be maintained. But I think that the Constitution is not a catalog of social and societal rights “argued Gérard Larcher on franceinfo.

“In a constitutional reform, each chamber has a sort of veto over the other”acknowledged to AFP Guillaume Gouffier Valente, explaining “respect the work of senators”. “The proposed writing is 90% the result of their work”he emphasizes, however.

If the upper house were to fail to adopt the reform at the end of February, the text would resume the parliamentary shuttle, disrupting the timetable planned by the executive. The site vie-publique.fr reminds that in the context of a constitutional revision, there cannot be the convening of a joint joint commission, this body responsible, for ordinary laws, for finding a compromise between the two chambers .

3 A meeting of the Congress in Versailles for a final vote

If the text is adopted in the Assembly and the Senate in the same terms, the last stage is located at the Palace of Versailles, where the 925 elected officials are gathered in Congress. The executive hopes he will be summoned on March 5, three days before International Women’s Day.

To adopt the revision of the Constitution, parliamentarians must decide by a three-fifths majority of the votes cast, without the possibility of modifying the text. Since 1958, out of 24 constitutional revisions, 21 have been approved by Congress, during 16 meetings, details the National Assembly website.

The majority can hope to gather sufficient votes. By adding all the Renaissance votes, from the left, from the Liot and radical groups, it arrives at 551 votes, four votes short of the three-fifths necessary for adoption (and this, if no elected official chooses to abstain), estimated this fall a government source at franceinfo. The majority should therefore need to convince only a few centrist or LR elected officials.