“Today is an important day for sexual and reproductive health and an important day for women’s health,” said the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, after the approval of the initiative.
For the person in charge of the health portfolio, the extension of the term reflects the will of the Executive to move towards greater “pragmatism and equality”.
“At a time when several countries are questioning this fundamental right of women, I am proud that France is reaffirming and expanding it,” he tweeted.
The regulation recognizes that, although late-term abortions represent a “tiny part” of those carried out in the country, Every year there are between 3,000 and 5,000 French women who travel abroad to have an abortion because they have exceeded the legal deadline, reported the AFP news agency.
Gaillot recalled that unrestricted IVE is legal up to 14 weeks of gestation in countries like Spain and Austria, up to 18 in Sweden, 22 in the Netherlands and even 24 in the United Kingdom.
When presenting her proposal, with which she intended to improve the “effectiveness” of the right to abortion, the deputy had maintained that these examples reflected “that no medical or scientific argument justifies opposing the extension of the terms.”
The legalization of abortion was enacted in France in 1975.
The one known as the Veil Law, in reference to its promoter, the former French conservative minister and survivor of the Nazi concentration camps Simone Veil, sought to end the nearly 300,000 clandestine abortions that were then practiced in the country.
Despite the many advances made since its entry into force, the French Government had admitted the need to improve access and guarantees to abortion in the country, where from the time a consultation is requested until the procedure is carried out, an average of 7.4 days.
According to an official report from the Directorate of Statistics released last September, in 2020, 222,000 voluntary abortions were performed in France, which represented a drop of 4% compared to 2019, the year in which the highest figure was reached since 1990, mainly by young people between 20 and 29 years old.
Source: Ambito
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