2024-02-29 15:14:57
Demonstration against the inclusion of the right to abortion in the Constitution in Paris, February 28, 2024. KIRAN RIDLEY / AFP
The Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) announced on Thursday its “sadness”after the vote of senators in favor of including voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion) in the Constitution.
“Abortion, which remains an attack on life at its beginning, cannot be seen solely from the angle of women’s rights”insists the body of the Catholic Church in a communiqué.
The constitutional revision aimed at registering a “freedom guaranteed” to resort to abortion in the Constitution was approved Wednesday in the Senate, after an almost unanimous vote in the National Assembly. The two houses of Parliament will meet for a final vote without suspense on Monday, four days before March 8, International Women’s Day.
“As the numerous forms of violence against women and children come to light, the Constitution of our country would have been honored to include the protection of women and children at its heart”continues the CEF.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers The inclusion of abortion in the Constitution takes a new step after a historic vote in the Senate
Add to your selections
« Elimination pure et simple »
She also promises to stay “attentive to respecting the freedom of choice of parents deciding, even in difficult situations, to keep their child, and the freedom of conscience of doctors and all nursing staff, whose courage and commitment she salutes. »
An amendment by the Republicans (LR) aimed at protecting the conscience clause of doctors was not accepted in the Senate. The CEF also regrets that the debate “did not mention support measures for those who would like to keep their child”.
In recent months, several bishops have spoken out against the inclusion of the right to abortion in the Constitution, a commitment made on March 8, 2023 by Emmanuel Macron. It is “an admission of weakness on our ability to calmly debate about abortion”, said the Archbishop of Rennes, Pierre d’Ornellas, speaking to Vatican Radio in October. In December, the bishop of Bayonne, Marc Aillet, described abortion as“pure and simple elimination of a human being”in a press release.
In France, where the act has been legal since the Veil law in 1975, the number of abortions has remained relatively stable for around twenty years, around 230,000 per year.
Reuse this content
#Conference #Bishops #France #expresses #sadness