Women’s rights – International Safe Abortion (28.09.24)

Today, International Safe Abortion Day, France reaffirms the importance of defending, throughout the world, everyone's right to freedom over their own bodies. This inalienable right is crucial for the health, life and freedom of women, as well as for the full achievement of gender equality. At the United Nations General Assembly, M. Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, recalled France's commitment to protecting sexual and reproductive health and rights and the importance of feminist diplomacy in "putting women at the centre".

The inclusion in the French Constitution of the freedom to terminate a pregnancy, on 8 March 2024, is a historic step forward. The universal decriminalization of voluntary pregnancy terminations is a priority for France, which is committed to its inclusion in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

France supports the pilot role played by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and its contraceptive purchasing and distribution programmes. It is committed to safeguarding and protecting maternal, newborn and infant health in West Africa through the French Muskoka Fund, and supports the organization of dialogue to promote access to safe abortions and to contraceptive markets in French-speaking Africa (ODAS Centre).