The constitutionalization of abortion in France has been hailed around
the world as a "pioneering" vote. And yet, it is the result of a
political compromise which in no way guarantees the conditions of access
to abortion or the conditions in which it takes place. A stopgap for
women and a refusal to protect all other people affected by this right.
---- On March 4, the Parliament meeting in Congress in Versailles
approved the draft constitutional law relating to the freedom to resort
to abortion. This law inserts into article 34 of the Constitution a
paragraph worded as follows: "The law determines the conditions under
which the freedom guaranteed to a woman to have recourse to a voluntary
termination of pregnancy is exercised". The government retained the
"freedom" of the Senate over the "right" of the Assembly, however adding
a "guarantee" which could appear more reassuring. But Éric
Dupond-Moretti was quick to clarify that the government did not intend
to create an absolute and unlimited right. Let the reaction be
reassured, this term does not at all call into question the legal time
limit for abortion or the conscience clause of doctors and midwives! The
National Consultative Commission on Human Rights also stressed that this
text added nothing in relation to the current situation.
Breakthrough? But which?
Sarah Durocher, president of Family Planning, considers that advancing
the right to abortion always involves compromises in France, that
anti-choice people had to lose and that it was important to send a
signal to European feminists in a context where the extreme right and
the conservative right come to power. Certainly, but the fact remains
that the wording used by the government excludes trans men from access
to abortion, because it is obviously possible to be pregnant without
being a woman, whether one is an intersex man, a trans man or a foreign
person with a "neutral" or "other" gender designation in civil status[1].
This "advancement" in no way removes the obstacles encountered by many
women: closure of Contraception and Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy
Centers (CIVG), hostility or disinterest from certain doctors, obstacles
to the practice of abortions by midwives. women, ... Furthermore, if the
extreme right comes to power, this constitutionalization will not
prevent it from passing a law adding, for example, prior interviews,
cutting reimbursements or preventing minors from aborting without
parental authorization.
Rejoice in a symbol? Surely not!
We will never be able to count on policies that have for decades paved
the way for reactionaries and the far right. While the Macronists play
feminists, the far right continues its propaganda. Vincent Bolloré's
reactionary channel, CNews, has described abortion as the leading cause
of death in the world, equating aborted women with murderers. This
government like others is only using the rights of women and LGBTI
people to improve its image while it destroys public services, announces
demographic rearmament and carries out colonial policies of demographic
control like in Mayotte where it encourages women to be sterilized. We
cannot rejoice in a symbol that masks the abysmal lack of resources
allocated to respecting the right to abortion. Depending on their
geographical, but also social, location, a person wishing to have an
abortion may encounter great difficulties in completing their procedures
within the legal deadlines. The dismantling of the public hospital where
the majority of abortions take place, the closure of 130 CIVGs in 15
years, or the "conscience clause" which still allows doctors to refuse
this medical procedure are all material obstacles to the possibility of
abortion.
For free and free abortion, everywhere, all the time
In countries that authorize abortion, the battle is tirelessly focused
on the resources allocated (information, places to have an abortion,
trained doctors, financial support, etc.) so that the right to abortion
finally becomes effective for everyone. In addition to this
effectiveness, it is also freedom that we must gain. Health insurance
should cover surgical and medical abortions like contraception. Sexual
and reproductive health obviously has a cost that we can choose to
assume collectively. Such measures would allow women and people from
gender minorities to have an abortion in their country of residence and
would erase inequalities in access between individuals from different
backgrounds.
We want to see situations of discrimination and obstacles to accessing
abortion disappear for all women who are far from information and care
systems, members of minority and marginalized groups, such as racialized
people, members of the LGBTI and the youngest. Thus, the question also
arises of extending the time limits (24 weeks in the Netherlands for
example), or of their elimination as in Canada where abortion is legal
at all stages of pregnancy.
The infantilizing speeches must stop. Women and people in gender
minorities do not need laws to know when they can or cannot abort. We
know what is good for us. We do not need legislators deciding for us
(and without any medical reason supporting this or that deadline) on
moral, religious or philosophical questions. The right to freely choose
one's pregnancy is a fundamental freedom. The same goes for all rights
to dispose of one's body, from drug transition to the refusal of
mutilation of intersex people. For all women, and people in gender
minorities around the world, the fight continues.
UCL Anti-Patriarchy Commission
To validate
[1]Planned Parenthood suffered numerous attacks in 2022 following the
publication of a poster showing a pregnant trans man. See the press
release of support that we produced at the time: "Family planning:
Standing up to transphobic attacks".
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Constitutionnalisation-de-l-IVG-Qu-en-est-il-vraiment-de-nos-droits
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
the world as a "pioneering" vote. And yet, it is the result of a
political compromise which in no way guarantees the conditions of access
to abortion or the conditions in which it takes place. A stopgap for
women and a refusal to protect all other people affected by this right.
---- On March 4, the Parliament meeting in Congress in Versailles
approved the draft constitutional law relating to the freedom to resort
to abortion. This law inserts into article 34 of the Constitution a
paragraph worded as follows: "The law determines the conditions under
which the freedom guaranteed to a woman to have recourse to a voluntary
termination of pregnancy is exercised". The government retained the
"freedom" of the Senate over the "right" of the Assembly, however adding
a "guarantee" which could appear more reassuring. But Éric
Dupond-Moretti was quick to clarify that the government did not intend
to create an absolute and unlimited right. Let the reaction be
reassured, this term does not at all call into question the legal time
limit for abortion or the conscience clause of doctors and midwives! The
National Consultative Commission on Human Rights also stressed that this
text added nothing in relation to the current situation.
Breakthrough? But which?
Sarah Durocher, president of Family Planning, considers that advancing
the right to abortion always involves compromises in France, that
anti-choice people had to lose and that it was important to send a
signal to European feminists in a context where the extreme right and
the conservative right come to power. Certainly, but the fact remains
that the wording used by the government excludes trans men from access
to abortion, because it is obviously possible to be pregnant without
being a woman, whether one is an intersex man, a trans man or a foreign
person with a "neutral" or "other" gender designation in civil status[1].
This "advancement" in no way removes the obstacles encountered by many
women: closure of Contraception and Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy
Centers (CIVG), hostility or disinterest from certain doctors, obstacles
to the practice of abortions by midwives. women, ... Furthermore, if the
extreme right comes to power, this constitutionalization will not
prevent it from passing a law adding, for example, prior interviews,
cutting reimbursements or preventing minors from aborting without
parental authorization.
Rejoice in a symbol? Surely not!
We will never be able to count on policies that have for decades paved
the way for reactionaries and the far right. While the Macronists play
feminists, the far right continues its propaganda. Vincent Bolloré's
reactionary channel, CNews, has described abortion as the leading cause
of death in the world, equating aborted women with murderers. This
government like others is only using the rights of women and LGBTI
people to improve its image while it destroys public services, announces
demographic rearmament and carries out colonial policies of demographic
control like in Mayotte where it encourages women to be sterilized. We
cannot rejoice in a symbol that masks the abysmal lack of resources
allocated to respecting the right to abortion. Depending on their
geographical, but also social, location, a person wishing to have an
abortion may encounter great difficulties in completing their procedures
within the legal deadlines. The dismantling of the public hospital where
the majority of abortions take place, the closure of 130 CIVGs in 15
years, or the "conscience clause" which still allows doctors to refuse
this medical procedure are all material obstacles to the possibility of
abortion.
For free and free abortion, everywhere, all the time
In countries that authorize abortion, the battle is tirelessly focused
on the resources allocated (information, places to have an abortion,
trained doctors, financial support, etc.) so that the right to abortion
finally becomes effective for everyone. In addition to this
effectiveness, it is also freedom that we must gain. Health insurance
should cover surgical and medical abortions like contraception. Sexual
and reproductive health obviously has a cost that we can choose to
assume collectively. Such measures would allow women and people from
gender minorities to have an abortion in their country of residence and
would erase inequalities in access between individuals from different
backgrounds.
We want to see situations of discrimination and obstacles to accessing
abortion disappear for all women who are far from information and care
systems, members of minority and marginalized groups, such as racialized
people, members of the LGBTI and the youngest. Thus, the question also
arises of extending the time limits (24 weeks in the Netherlands for
example), or of their elimination as in Canada where abortion is legal
at all stages of pregnancy.
The infantilizing speeches must stop. Women and people in gender
minorities do not need laws to know when they can or cannot abort. We
know what is good for us. We do not need legislators deciding for us
(and without any medical reason supporting this or that deadline) on
moral, religious or philosophical questions. The right to freely choose
one's pregnancy is a fundamental freedom. The same goes for all rights
to dispose of one's body, from drug transition to the refusal of
mutilation of intersex people. For all women, and people in gender
minorities around the world, the fight continues.
UCL Anti-Patriarchy Commission
To validate
[1]Planned Parenthood suffered numerous attacks in 2022 following the
publication of a poster showing a pregnant trans man. See the press
release of support that we produced at the time: "Family planning:
Standing up to transphobic attacks".
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Constitutionnalisation-de-l-IVG-Qu-en-est-il-vraiment-de-nos-droits
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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