[ad_1]
PARIS (AP) — French leaders will use a Napoleonic-era printing press in a historic ceremony Friday to enshrine the right to abortion into the constitution. The ceremony is open to the public and is held on International Women’s Day to show support for women around the world. .
France was the first country to explicitly guarantee the right to abortion in its national charter.
Abortion is a highly divisive issue in the United States, but it is legal in most of Europe and overwhelmingly popular in France, where abortion is seen as a public health issue rather than politics. French parliamentarians approved constitutional amendments on Monday by a vote of 780 to 72, with support from many far-right MPs.
Friday’s ceremony, held on the cobblestones of Place Vendôme in Paris, is the day’s key event focused on advancing women’s rights worldwide. Marches, protests and meetings have been held in places from Jakarta, Indonesia to Mexico City and beyond.
France’s constitutional reforms have been welcomed by women’s rights groups around the world, including in regions where women struggle to access contraception and maternal health care. French President Emmanuel Macron said this was a direct result of the 2022 US Supreme Court ruling revoking long-held abortion rights.
Macron’s critics questioned why he pushed for the measure in a country where women face so many other problems, even though there is no clear threat to abortion rights. .
The proportion of women murdered by their partners remains high in France, and challenges remain in prosecuting sexual abuse of women by powerful celebrities and other men. French women, especially non-white women, also have lower wages and pensions.
Macron’s government said the abortion reform was important to avoid a U.S.-like scenario for French women as far-right groups grow in power and seek to turn back the clock on freedoms across Europe.
Macron will preside over the constitutional ceremony. Justice Minister Eric Dupont Moretti will use a 100-kilogram (220-pound) printing press from 1810 to imprint amendments to France’s 1958 constitution.
The ceremony will include the phrase “A woman’s freedom to choose abortion is guaranteed,” and will be the first time the ceremony will be held outdoors to the public.
France is following in the footsteps of the former Yugoslavia, whose 1974 constitution included language that said people were “free to decide whether or not to have children.” Yugoslavia’s successor states have similar language in their constitutions, but they do not explicitly guarantee the right to abortion.
Voters in Ireland will decide on Friday whether to amend the constitution to remove clauses referring to women’s domestic duties and expanding the definition of family.
Protesters in Istanbul plan to call attention to violence against women and will hold rallies in a number of cities. Protests are often political, sometimes violent, and rooted in women’s efforts to improve their rights as workers. This year’s global theme is “Inspire Inclusion.”
In Jakarta, Indonesian demonstrators called on the government to adopt the International Labor Organization’s Convention on Gender Equality and the Elimination of Violence and Harassment at the Workplace. In Thailand, as parliament debates a law on workers’ rights and welfare, labor rights groups organized a march to the Government House to petition for improved working conditions.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that the price of cooking gas cylinders would be cut by 100 rupees ($1.20). She posted on social media platform X that the move to reduce household expenses “is consistent with efforts to empower women.
Officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977, International Women’s Day is a public holiday in about 20 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, and Afghanistan.
___
Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link
