Abortion

Abstract

This chapter focuses on implementation or the extent to which women in France have been able to exercise the right to abortion introduced by the Loi Veil in 1975. This law, although a compromise, was relatively liberal, allowing a woman who declared herself to be in a situation of distress to have an abortion within the first ten weeks of pregnancy. The problem, however, was exercising this right. The cost of an abortion was not reimbursed by the state. Conscience clauses allowed doctors to refuse to perform abortions and did not oblige them to refer the woman to another doctor, leading to severe lack of provision in parts of the country. Minors needed parental consent, and there were residence conditions, intended to prevent ‘abortion tourism’. Minor amendments were made to the Loi Veil, including the reimbursement of costs in 1982, the decriminalisation of the act of performing an abortion on oneself in 1993, and the creation of the new offence of obstructing abortion in the same year. It was under the Jospin government, however, that concerns about access prompted a more thorough review of abortion law. A report by Professor Israel Nisand, submitted to the Minister for Employment and Solidarity, Martine Aubry in 1999, highlighted the difficulties faced by many women trying to obtain an abortion in France, and a bill presented by Aubry the following year aimed to resolve these problems. The successful passage of the bill through Parliament resulted in the 2001 law on abortion and contraception, which is discussed in detail later in this chapter.