France became the world's first country to enshrine abortion rights in its constitution on Monday, the culmination of an effort that began as a direct response to the U.S supreme court decesion to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Lawmakers from both houses of the French Parliament voted 780 to 72 in favour of the measure easily clearing the three-fifths majority needed to ammend the French constitution.
Monday's vote was held during a special gathering by the law makers at the Palace of Versailles, southwest of the Paris, which was the final step in the legislative process.
The French Senate and National Assembly each overwhelmingly approved the ammendment earlier this year.
The ammendment states that there is a "guaranteed freedom" to abortion in France though some groups of law makers had called for more explicit language calling abortion a right.
The lawmakers hailed the move as a history-making way for France to send a clear signal of support on reproductive rights just as abortion comes under threat in the Unitef States as well as other parts of Europe where far-right governments have come to power.
Following the vote, the Eiffel Tower was lit up with the words " my body my choice ".
French prime minister Gabriel Attal said that before the vote, lawmakers had a moral debt to woman who had in the past been forced to endure illegal abortions.
We are sending to you all women a message " your body belongs to you " Attal said.
President Emmanuel Macron said that the government would hold the formal ceremony celebrating the ammendment' s passage on Friday which will be the lnternational Women's day.
France first legalised abortion in 1975 aftet a campaign led by then health minister Simone Veil, an Auschwitz survivor who became one of the country's most famous feminist icons.
While abortion is a highly divisive issue in U.S politics that often falls along party lines, in France, its widely supported.
Many of the law makers that voted against the ammendment did so not because they opposed abortion but rather felt it unnecessary due to the wide support for reproductive rights.
The measure's passage is a clear victory for the French left which has been pushing for years to guarantee abortion rights in the constitution.
Before 2022, President Emmanuel Macron's government argued like the current opponents that the move was unnecessary however in 2022 when the U.S Supreme Court ruled against Roe v. Wade and let states individually decide on the issue, France was forced to act.
The vote marks the 25th time the constitution is being ammded by the French government ever since the founding of the fifth French republic in 1978.
The Catholic Church was one of the few groups that opposed the ammedment professing that in era of universal human rights, there is not life to human life.
