France takes 1st step to add abortion right to constitution

By SYLVIE CORBET
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Lawmakers in France’s lower house of parliament have adopted a bill that would enshrine abortion rights in the country’s constitution. It is the first step in a lengthy and uncertain legislative battle prompted by the rollback of abortion rights in the United States. After the measure was approved Thursday by the National Assembly it now needs a majority in the upper house, the Senate, and then in a nationwide referendum. Abortion in France was decriminalized under a key 1975 law, but there is nothing in the constitution that would guarantee abortion rights. The proposal is the work of a left-wing coalition. However, the justice minister says the centrist government also supports the proposal.