“Don’t touch my abortion. » Several hundred people demonstrated on Saturday, July 2, in Paris, “for the defense of the right to abortion” around the world and provide support to American women, after the questioning of abortion by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Evoking a « where to shock »Suzy Rojtman, member of the collective Abortion in Europe – Women decide, fears that in view of “the importance of the United States in the world”the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) is declining ” everywhere “ and “countries are inspired by the United States to deny this fundamental right”. In total, more than thirty demonstrations brought together some 6,500 people in France, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
In the streets of Paris, where 1,500 people marched, according to the Ministry of the Interior, a 16-year-old girl, Thaïs, held up a sign “130 abortion centers have closed in 15 years” (in France). She worries about a ” snowball effect “.
Waving hangers painted red, the protesters, including men and many very young women, marched in song “From New York to Paris, free and free abortion”, or “The abortion, we fought to win it, we will fight to keep it”.
« L’IVG sauve des vies », « Keep your laws off my body » (“remove your laws from my body”), “Leave the women alone for once”, “A right without means is not a right”, read on the signs of the participants, many of which were written in English. You could also read “We want abortion in the Constitution”in reference to the bills to enshrine this right in the French Constitution.
“It is a fundamental right”
Organized at the call of the collective Abortion in Europe – Women decide, joined by many feminist associations, trade unions and political parties, several demonstrations were planned across France.
In Bordeaux, the rally also numbered a few hundred people (400 according to the police, a thousand according to the organizers). “It’s not just the right to abortion but the right to freely dispose of our bodies. It is a fundamental right, which does not only concern France but women all over the world.says Johanna Tilché-Jean, “artist and mother”. For Nicole Blet, retired nurse and member of Family Planning in Gironde, ” the law [en France] on abortion has always been fragile”as « son application ».
In Strasbourg, more than 300 people, according to the prefecture, took the direction of the American consulate. In Toulouse, a few dozen people, especially women, gathered under the slogan of “We are proud, women, radical and angry! ». “In France, we are not outside the world. You have to be careful “, explains Sandra Cassagnaud, 49 years old. The French “have more and more trouble” to be taken care of with a view to an abortion.
“We are particularly mobilized on the issue of the resources allocated to abortion centers, between the specific conscience clause that medical staff can bring into play and the overload of hospital professions”notes Léa Védie, one of the spokespersons for Family Planning in the Rhône, who was demonstrating in Lyon, where 500 people took part in the procession according to the prefecture, 800 according to the organizers.
In Marseille, demonstrators joined the Pride March which brought together 12,000 people according to the prefecture. A regular at this march, Philippe Murcia, 48, said to himself “very worried to see a divided society, like in the United States, which is now attacking women’s rights, rights that we thought were acquired”.