After lengthy debates on the night of Wednesday, January 24, members of France's Assemblée Nationale voted in favor of the government bill, which would add to Article 34 of the Constitution that "the law determines the conditions under which the freedom guaranteed to women to have access to a voluntary termination of pregnancy is exercised."

The bill was passed by 99 votes in favor and 13 against, after nearly eight hours of debate, which often veered from a discussion on the desirability of constitutionalizing abortion to heated exchanges on current abortion legislation. Under the impetus of the right-wing Les Républicains (LR) lawmakers, who had proposed the vast majority of the 171 amendments, attacks were made on issues including the current time limit for access to abortion (set at 14 weeks of pregnancy) and family planning.

The heated exchanges between some members of the LR and far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) led Assemblée President Yaël Braun-Pivet to call the two parties to order on several occasions, instructing them to respect "exchanges commensurate with the subject matter."

In essence, these exchanges revolved around a number of key questions. Firstly, the merits of the approach, "in the absence of any threat to the right to abortion," according to the right. Why, then, adopt a "preventive constitutionalization?" asked Annie Genevard of LR. Supporters countered by pointing to the "uncertainty of the future."

"To those who say that abortion is not under threat in France, I say that we don't write the Constitution just for the present, but first and foremost for the future. It is the very nature of our supreme law to endure, to be consistent for the future by protecting our rights, our democratic achievements and our rule of law," argued Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti during the opening of the session.

Throughout the evening, the wording chosen by the government – "guaranteed freedom" – was weighed and dissected, without ultimately being modified. On the left, there was a preference for constitutionalizing the "right to abortion," the language used in a bill put forward by the LFI group and voted on November 24, 2022. But the amendments were withdrawn in favor of the "compromised collective writin," with the aim of gaining the Sénat's support.

A handful of LR lawmakers voiced strong concerns about the risks posed by constitutionalizing the two conscience clause, a provision that allows doctors to refuse to perform an abortion on the basis of personal convictions. The fear of "upsetting the balance" between "women's freedom" and other constitutional freedoms, such as "safeguarding the dignity of the human person," was also frequently voiced. Amendments to place "limits" on the "guaranteed freedom" were rejected.

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