In a promising step forward for women's empowerment, France has officially become the first country in the world to include the “guaranteed freedom” to abortion in their constitution. "We're sending a message to all women: your body belongs to you and no one can decide for you," said Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to the French parliament before the history-making vote.
President Emmanuel Macron had previously made a statement of solidarity on International Women's Day last year, in direct reference to the overturning of Roe vs Wade in the United States. He then proposed the change to the constitution the following day:
“In 2024, women's freedom to have an abortion will be irreversible,” he posted on social media at the time. “Based on the work of parliamentarians and associations, the draft constitutional law will be sent to the Council of State this week and presented to the Council of Ministers by the end of the year.”
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The update to France's constitution is massive step forwards for women's rights — but unfortunately the situation is more complicated worldwide, from country to country.
Here's everything you need to know.
Abortion rights around the world
According to the Centre for Reproductive Rights, 41% of women worldwide live in countries with restrictive abortion laws.
It's important to remember that even in countries where abortion is legalised, barriers and issues exist that may prevent women from getting the treatment they need or put their health at risk – such as high costs, waiting times, parental or marital consent requirements, and social stigma.
The impact of Roe vs Wade
The issues arising from the overturning of Roe vs Wade – and how it has gone on to impact access to abortion for women in the US – were well publicised, including how it overturned almost fifty years of precedent that conferred a constitutional right to receive an abortion.
US reproductive rights also came under fire in 2024 when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created during the IVF process should be considered “children”. "To enact legislation granting legal personhood to embryos could have disastrous consequences for the use of IVF — a science many people rely on to build their families," said Elisabeth Smith, director of state policy at the Center for Reproductive Rights to the BBC at the time.
Here are some other insights into abortion rights around the world, including how the UK is faring.
Societies where women are doing well are also more peaceful, democratic, prosperous and better prepared to adapt to climate change.
Four countries have reduced access to abortion in the last 30 years
Since 1994, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Poland and the United States have made movements that have made access to abortion more difficult.
For example, while Poland permits abortion by law in cases of “rape, incest, and life-threatening pregnancies”, in 2020 it made terminations in the cases of foetal impairment unconstitutional. Seeing as the vast majority of abortions were due to “foetal abnormalities”, imposing a blanket ban is significant, making doctors reportedly very nervous to perform terminations.
In El Salvador, abortion is criminalised in all circumstances. In 1998, certain exceptions – such as provisions for the pregnant woman's life – were removed. Nicaragua criminalised abortion in all circumstances in 2006. The country's neighbour, Honduras, has incredibly strict abortion laws – UN experts estimate that between fifty thousand and eighty thousand unsafe abortions take place there each year.
Countries that have legalised abortion, or made steps towards a more liberal abortion policy
- China - China liberalised its abortion policy in line with its one-child policy (which was put in place to deal with overpopulation) in 1979. By 2021, it moved to a three-child policy, which still leads to “forced abortions” due to the historical social preference for babies of the male sex.
- Ireland - the Irish parliament legalised the termination of pregnancy before twelve weeks in 2018, with abortion being legalised a year later in Northern Ireland.
Since 2020, both Argentina and Thailand legalised abortions with specific gestational limits, and South Korea has also decriminalised abortion. New Zealand eased its abortion restrictions.
Where does the UK stand with abortion?
While abortion is available in the UK in the first 24 weeks of a pregnancy, it has been argued recently that the right to abortion is not well protected under UK law.
For instance, in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe vs Wade in June 2022, Labour MP Stella Creasy’s tabled amendment to the Bill of Rights to make abortion a human right received significant pushback in the House of Commons.
"Pills by post" abortion services have been made permanently available after becoming an urgent necessity in lockdown, but the way forward seems murky, especially as governmental commitments on abortion and sexual health rights were removed from an official statement on gender equality last year.
Concern further grew in June 2023 with the case of Carla Foster, who was sentenced to 28 months in prison for illegally inducing an abortion during lockdown by taking the at-home pills at 32 to 34 weeks. The decision to prosecute Carla instead of prioritising offering the care she needs proves that we still have a way in the UK to go when it comes to abortion rights – as does the rest of the world.
