Olympics-host France Leads on Liberalizing Abortion

More than 15 million visitors are expected to travel to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, taking place from July 26 to August 11. While these visitors are there to support their national teams, it also presents an opportunity to reflect on how their home countries compare to the host nation in terms of abortion rights and access. 

In a historic milestone for reproductive rights in Europe, on March 4, 2024, France’s parliament voted overwhelmingly, by 780-72, to revise the country’s 1958 constitution to enshrine women’s “guaranteed freedom” to access abortion. President of France, Emmanuel Macron, described the decision as sending a “universal message.”

Before the vote, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told parliament that the right to abortion remained “in danger” and “at the mercy of decision makers.” He added, “We’re sending a message to all women: your body belongs to you and no one can decide for you.” Following the vote, the Eiffel Tower in Paris was lit up in celebration, with the message, “My Body My Choice.” 

“Today’s vote by French lawmakers is highly significant,” said Leah Hoctor, Vice President for Europe at the Center for Reproductive Rights, commenting on France’s historic vote. “It means that a guaranteed freedom to decide to have an abortion will be enshrined in the French constitution. Such an explicit constitutional guarantee for abortion freedoms will be the first of its kind, not just in Europe, but globally.” 

France’s constitutional amendment represents significant progress in the country’s fight for women’s rights and bodily autonomy by safeguarding their right to abortion without political interference. In March of 2022, the country reformed its law to raise the time limit for abortion on request from 14 to 16 weeks from the last menstrual period (LMP) and repealed the two-day mandatory waiting period. It also made access to early medical abortion at home in the first seven weeks of pregnancy (nine weeks LMP) permanent.

The U.S.’s Regression on Abortion Rights Sparked France’s Action  

The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to strip women of the right to abortion in 2022 reverberated across Europe’s political landscape. France—where abortion is widely supported by the public as well as all political parties—acted swiftly in response to the ruling.

In response to the U.S.’s regression, Macron said, “Unfortunately, this event is not isolated: in many countries, even in Europe, there are currents of opinion that seek to hinder at any cost the freedom of women to terminate their pregnancy if they wish.”

In Europe, All Eyes Are on Poland 

While many countries in Europe have liberalized their abortion laws in recent decades, Poland has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the European Union and is one of only two countries where abortion on request is not legal.

In June 2024, a Polish parliamentary commission recommended the adoption of legislation that would ease Poland’s highly restrictive abortion policies. But in July, the country’s lower house of parliament, the Sejm, failed to pass draft legislation to decriminalize abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and later under certain conditions.

An Ongoing Global Trend Towards the Liberalization of Abortion Laws 

The U.S.’s devastating regression on abortion rights made the country an outlier to the global trend towards liberalization. Over the past 30 years, more than 60 countries and territories have liberalized their abortion laws. From Ireland to Nepal, abortion rights are becoming recognized as fundamental human rights for millions of people in countries worldwide. In Latin America, the Green Wave is ushering in a new era of liberalization in Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, and elsewhere in the region. 

U.S. to Host 2028 Summer Olympics: Will It Follow France’s Example? 

With the U.S. preparing to host the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, it raises a pressing question: by then, will the U.S. have joined France in recognizing and supporting reproductive rights as fundamental human rights? Will there be a federal law to protect abortion rights nationwide, so people in every state can exercise their reproductive freedom?  

Or will it continue to backslide—passing ever more restrictive abortion laws that not only violate international human rights, but leave women’s health and lives at risk?  

As the world’s attention focuses on France this summer, the country’s action to enshrine abortion rights into its constitution could serve as a benchmark, highlighting potential progress and alignment with the global trend toward protecting reproductive rights.  

As we approach the 2024 Olympics, let us also celebrate this significant advancement in reproductive rights of this year’s host country and hope that it inspires further progress worldwide. 

Learn more about France’s abortion laws here.