During a historic vote, the National Assembly adopted, Thursday, by a very large majority a proposal for a constitutional law aimed at registering the right to abortion in the Basic Law.
by Mariama Darame and Jérémie Lamothe
Will the National Assembly hold this for five years? Of a historic ballot to register the voluntary pregnancy interruption (abortion) in the constitution at a dantesque session on the reintegration of caregivers not vaccinated in COVVI-19, the day devoted to the texts of rebellious France (LFI), Thursday 24 November, turned out to be the quintessence of a reluctant parliamentary world to change paradigm since the legislative elections in June.
The constitutional law proposal carried by the president of the LFI group, Mathilde Panot, to register the right to abortion in the fundamental law had offered a moment of harmony within this hemicycle without absolute majority, where the cleavages never stopped exacerbating.
At the end of eight hours of debate, disrupted by the obstruction of the National Rally (RN) and the conservative fringe of the Les Républicains group (LR), the new popular, ecological and social union (NUPPES) and the Presidential coalition have reached common ground on the formulation: “The law guarantees the effectiveness and equal access to the right to the voluntary termination of pregnancy”. The bill rewritten by LFI, the Modem and the Socialists, which modifies article 66 of the Constitution, was adopted at first reading by a very large majority, to 337 votes (32 against and 18 abstentions ) .
At the time of the vote, only the LR and RN groups found themselves divided. The right -wing elected officials were favorable to include in the Constitution the right to abortion, provided that the principles of the Veil law of 1975 are included, with the deadline – to fourteen weeks today – and the Consciousness clause for health professionals. “The formulation proposed through the text (…) suggests that abortion would be an unconditional and absolute right without the legislator being able to fix limits to this right”, deplored the deputy (LR) of the Ain Xavier Breton.
On abortion, put pressure on the government and the Senate
Once their proposal has been rejected, a handful of LR deputies have attempted at all costs to slow down discussions through amendments to the return of seven -year -old or the preservation of regional languages.
Their far -right colleagues have defended amendments on “national preference” or “soil law”, before finally voting mainly the text, following yet another reversal of the group’s president, Marine The pen. “A small game of parliamentary obstruction” denounced by the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, on this text “more than necessary in these agitated times”.
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