TRUE OR FALSE. Do a third of women have to change departments to have an abortion in France, as Manon Aubry says?

In the midst of a debate on the inclusion in the constitution of voluntary termination of pregnancy, La France insoumise MEP Manon Aubry affirmed on Europe 1 that “a third of women had to change departments to have an abortion because they do not can’t get an appointment. It’s actually one in six women, according to data from the Ministry of Health.

The deputies approved by a large majority on the night of Wednesday to Thursday the principle of including, in the Constitution, the “freedom guaranteed to women” to have recourse to a voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG). This vote must be confirmed on Tuesday January 30 by a solemn vote in the National Assembly, before the Senate examines the text again. In this context, La France insoumise MEP Manon Aubry affirmed on Europe 1 that in France, “a third of women have to change departments to have an abortion because they cannot get an appointment.” Is it true ? The cell true or false checked.

The figure given by Manon Aubry is not correct. According to DRESS, the statistical service of the Ministry of Health, one in six women in France changed departments to have an abortion in 2022 (17.2%). There are great disparities across the territory. In Ain or Ardèche, almost half of women left their department to have an abortion in 2022. They were less than 5% in Bas-Rhin or in the Pyrénées-Orientales.

Several reasons explain these movements. First there is the question of confidentiality: some women prefer to abort far from home, so as not to encounter a neighbor or colleague. Others also change departments because the hospital or practice closest to their home is located in the neighboring department, a few kilometers away. But often, women travel to have an abortion because they have not found, within a short time, a consultation near them.

Medical deserts and lack of interest among practitioners

In a parliamentary report dating from 2020, deputies Marie-Noëlle Battistel and Cécile Muschotti ensure that “infrastructures do not meet the needs in certain departments, which creates territorial inequalities which are difficult to accept.” The Ministry of Health also recognizes in a report published in 2019 that there are “areas of tension” in all French regions, due to the lack of doctors. But the ministry assures that these difficulties remain “punctual” and that there is no “Blank Zone” where access to abortion would not be possible.

Some women also struggle to find, within a short time, an abortion consultation near their home because not all doctors perform abortions, a medical procedure that is poorly valued and poorly paid. “The main explanation for the difficulties in accessing abortion essentially results from disinterest in a medical procedure that is little valued and considered to be of little value”, write the deputies in their report. According to DRESS, in 2018, 1,725 ​​doctors and 248 midwives performed abortions in private practices. “Related to the number of practitioners installed in practices, this represents 2.9% of general practitioners and gynecologists and 3.5% of midwives”specifies the parliamentary report.

Waiting seven days on average to get a consultation

In France, the average time to have an abortion is seven days, according to the Ministry of Health. It can even exceed ten days in places. There are once again regional disparities: deadlines are shorter in Occitanie or Pays-de-la-Loire and longer in Hauts-de-France or Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. However, the High Health Authority recommends a maximum of five days of waiting. Delays are even longer during vacations, when doctors take their leave.

In a survey carried out in the summer of 2023 among its 80 departmental branches, Family Planning pointed out the difficulties in accessing abortion. The association assures that women have had to drive more than an hour to have access to a medical abortion in Brittany or that others have had to wait several weeks to obtain an appointment. “This is the reality of abortion in France in 2023 and it is unacceptable”, explains Sarah Durocher, national president of Family Planning, to France Inter. According to Family Planning, 130 abortion centers have been closed in 15 years in France.