“A historic moment”, greets the co-president of Family Planning

“This is an important, historic moment for the right to abortion, for women’s rights, a great collective success and also a great success for the feminist movement”reacted on Wednesday February 23 on franceinfo Sarah Durocher, co-president of Family Planning, after the final adoption of the bill to extend the legal period for voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) from 12 to 14 weeks.

The adoption of this text was “a big battle”according to Sarah Durocher. “We could see it at the National Assembly, it was a long marathon”started in October 2020. “The right to abortion is a fundamental right that must continue to evolve and be as close as possible to the realities on the ground”judges the co-president of Family Planning. “The objective we have is to ensure that abortion is part of women’s lives, that it is no longer a separate act.”

“Today, there are major difficulties in accessing abortion”says Sarah Durocher. “Every day, we receive women who are overdue. When a pregnant woman chooses to end her pregnancy, she is forced to go abroad and it costs between 1,000 and 2,500 euros.” According to Socialist MP Marie-Noëlle Battistel, 2,000 women are affected each year. “If you don’t have the means, you have to have a pregnancy that you don’t want, or go into debt or try to find a strategy to get the funding, it’s a social injustice between women”continues Sarah Durocher.

Family Planning regrets, however, that the “specific conscience clause” to abortion has not been abolished. The text initially provided for this, but the measure has been amended. That “specific conscience clause“allows doctors to refuse to perform an abortion.