“A beautiful thing for everyone”, “a privilege”… Foreign tourists welcome this decision

Hundreds of people gathered in Paris on Monday, March 4, after Congress voted to include voluntary termination of pregnancy in the Constitution. French women but also many foreign tourists celebrated this historic event at the Trocadéro.

Most tourists came to take photos on the esplanade in front of the Eiffel Tower on Monday March 4. But that same day, a giant screen was installed to broadcast live the vote in Congress for the inclusion of abortion in the French Constitution. Curious foreigners then stopped to listen to the speeches broadcast at the Trocadéro. Among them, Olassa, a Ukrainian refugee who was very moved after the Congressional vote. “I try to remember all the speeches to find out how I could do to implement the same thing in Ukraine when I return”she assures.

“It really makes me smile. It’s very important and it touches me a lot. It’s not just a great thing for France. In fact, it’s for everyone.”

This feeling is also shared by Maria, a thirty-year-old from Russia. “It’s not an important day just for French women, it’s an important day for all women in the world. I am surprised that abortion is still an issue, that the Veil law could one day be called into question. It’s a women’s subject, not a men’s subject. : it’s about our body and it’s up to us to decide”she says.

Maria, pregnant, adds: “J‘wait for a girl. I want to be able to talk to her about all this and so she can have a choice. In my country, it’s impossible.” She recalls the difficulty of demonstrating in Russia and judges that French women are an example.

“You always take to the streets to share your opinion. Sometimes it doesn’t work but at least we see that it’s still possible. It’s a privilege.”

However, according to French activists present in the crowd, there remains a lot to do in France. “Today, having an abortion sometimes means changing departments, there is a shortage of doctors”judge in particular Violette, interviewed by franceinfo. “There are still barriers to abortion”, she wants to point out. A fight that these French women will continue to defend in the streets from Friday March 8, on the occasion of International Women’s Rights Day.