The change is one of the promises made by President Emmanuel Macron last year and is the first step in a legislative process that will still require a vote in the Senate in order to be passed. 

On Tuesday night, the French National Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of amending Article 34 of France’s constitution to include that “the law determines the conditions by which is exercised the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.”

“Tonight, the National Assembly and the government did not miss their rendez-vous with women’s history,” Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said.

Macron’s government is aiming to get the constitutional amendment passed by both chambers of parliament before getting it approved by all legislators in three-fifths majority of a joint session of parliament. 

In October, the French president said that his government would aim to make abortion rights constitutional by the end of the year. “In 2024, the right of women to choose abortion will become irreversible,” he wrote on his socials. 

A 2022 opinion poll from France showed that 89 per cent of respondents wanted abortion rights to be legislated under the constitution.

Earlier this month, an anti-abortion “March for Life” rally took place in Paris, with numbers soaring to 15,000, according to the organisers. 

Abortion in France was decriminalised over half a century ago, however there remains nothing in the constitution that guarantees abortion rights. If the latest constitutional amendments is passed, France will have a vastly superior approach to women’s reproductive rights compared to its surrounding countries: in Poland, pregnancies can only be legally aborted in cases of rape, incest or a threat to the mother’s health or life. Even in cases of severe fetal deformities, the Polish constitutional court ruled that women are not allowed to access abortion. 

In 2022, Hungry’s far-right government tightened abortion access, requiring women to “listen to the foetal heartbeat” before they can access the procedure. 

In Italy, a group of anti-abortion organisations have sought to enshrine a similar rule, collecting over 106,000 signatures in December in an attempt to force women to listen to the ‘foetal heartbeat’ before undergoing the procedure.

The post France’s National Assembly votes to enshrine abortion rights in constitution appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Brittany Watts, 33, could face a year in prison or a $3,731 fine in Ohio, where abortion is legal but highly restricted. Her case touches a national rage over the treatment of pregnant women, especially Black women.

Watts began experiencing signs of a “non-viable pregnancy” at 21 weeks and five days when she passed thick blood clots. A day later, she was waiting in urgent care at the cut-off time for legal abortion, which is 21 weeks and six days. 

A doctor told her that while the foetal heartbeat was still present, her water had broken prematurely and the foetus wouldn’t survive. If she didn’t have her labour induced (amounting to an abortion to deliver the non-viable foetus), her case records show she would face “significant risk” of death. 

Watts waited to be seen by urgent care as hospital officials were deliberating over the legalities of performing an abortion for her. After eight hours and without receiving treatment, she returned home where she miscarried in a toilet.

Police later found Watts’s foetus wedged in the pipes. Testimony and autopsy confirmed that the foetus died in utero before passing through the birth canal and no injuries to the foetus were found. 

Nevertheless, Watts was charged with abuse of a corpse – a fifth-degree felony – and last month, her case was sent to a grand jury. Before this, she had no criminal record.

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Michele Goodwin, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, and author of “Policing The Womb,” told the Associated Press anti-abortion efforts have long targeted Black and brown women, in particular.

She said that even before Roe v Wade was overturned, studies have shown that Black women who visited hospitals for prenatal care were 10 times more likely than white women to have child protective services and law enforcement called on them.  

At the time of Watts’ miscarriage, vigorous campaigning was taking place across Ohio over Issue 1, a proposed amendment to enshrine a right to abortion in Ohio’s constitution.

The governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine signed a law in April 2019 prohibiting abortion in the state after the first 21 weeks and six days. 

Miscarriage is common

Miscarriage is very common, according to US-based non-profit March for Dimes. Some research suggests that more than 30 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, and many end before a person even knows they’re pregnant. 

Here in Australia, research has shown that around 300 people experience miscarriage everyday, and one in four pregnancies end in loss.

Australia’s leading national mental health organisation, Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia (PANDA) says one in five new mums and one in ten new dads are affected by perinatal depression and anxiety following a miscarriage.

If you or someone you love needs support:

– PANDA Helpline on 1300 726 306 (9am-7:30pm Monday-Saturday) or panda.org.au

– Lifeline: 13 11 14 (24/7) or lifeline.org.au

The post US woman could face a year of prison after suffering a miscarriage appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Across several states, citizens headed to the polls to elect governors, mayors, state legislators, and also to vote on key state-based vote issues, including access to reproductive rights. 

In traditionally “red” (Republican) states, including Ohio and Kentucky, the positive results for Democrats signal a change in the air for abortion rights issues. 

Ohio
In Ohio, a citizen-sponsored issue saw residents vote on whether to establish a Constitutional Right to Abortion, guaranteeing the right to an abortion. The state was the only one across the country to vote on a statewide abortion rights question this year.

Reports have confirmed that with most ballots now counted, the amendment is set to pass, meaning individuals would have the  “right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions,” including on abortion.

According to CBS, as many as one in five Republicans also voted in favour of the change. 

However, even with an emphatic “Yes” vote, the state legislature still has the power to ban abortion after roughly 23 weeks — unless the patient’s “treating physician” determines it is necessary to protect the patient’s life or wellbeing. 

Lauren Blauvelt, co-chair of Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, spoke to a crowd of supporters on Tuesday, saying, “The future is bright, and tonight we can celebrate this win for bodily autonomy and reproductive rights.” 

“Ohioans can rest easy knowing we can never be denied timely medical care,” she said.

On the same day, US President Joe Biden released a short statement praising the voters of Ohio, who “voted to protect their fundamental freedoms.”

“Ohioans and voters across the country rejected attempts by MAGA Republican elected officials to impose extreme abortion bans that put the health and lives of women in jeopardy, force women to travel hundreds of miles for care, and threaten to criminalise doctors and nurses for providing the health care that their patients need and that they are trained to provide,” he wrote. 

“This extreme and dangerous agenda is out-of-step with the vast majority of Americans.” 

“My Administration will continue to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law once and for all.”  

Virginia
In Virginia, abortion rights advocates celebrated Democrats holding onto their Senate majority and reclaiming control of the House from Republicans. 

This means they will have the power to block Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s agenda to ban most abortions beyond 15 weeks after conception.

Referencing Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Mamie Locke released a statement: 

“It’s official: there will be absolutely no abortion ban legislation sent to Glenn Youngkin’s desk for the duration of his term in office, period, as we have thwarted MAGA Republicans’ attempt to take total control of our government and our bodies.” 

Molly Murphy, president of the Democrat-aligned firm Impact Research, said on the result, “voters have said resoundingly they do not want a ban on abortion.”

“This is much less about where you draw the line on when a woman can have an abortion and much more about who gets to decide,” she told 19th News.

“The number of weeks is immaterial, because it’s still fundamentally politicians deciding whether a woman should have an abortion.”

All of the nine LGBTQI candidates in the Virginia legislative races won their seats, marking a huge win for Democrats. 

They included Laura Jane Cohen, Rozia Henson, Adele McClury, Kelly Convirs-Fowler, Marcia Price, Mark Sickles and Senator Adam Ebbin. 

Journalist and Democrat, Danica Roem, becomes the first openly trans state senator in the South. 

LGBTQ+ Victory Fund President & CEO Annise Parker said the results from the state elections indicate that voters “resoundingly rejected the politics of bigotry and fear directed at the LGBTQ+ community.”

“In Virginia and around the country, tonight’s results show that hate is a losing issue at the ballot box,” she said.

“We’re proud that our LGBTQ+ Victory Fund candidates were key to delivering a pro-equality majority in the General Assembly that will stand up to Glenn Youngkin’s bigoted policies.” 

Kentucky
In Kentucky, Democratic Governor Andy Beshear was re-elected for a second four-year term. Beshear campaigned on abortion rights, making it one of his most important campaign issues in a state where Republicans have a supermajority in the legislature. 

Beshear attacked his opponent’s view that there should be no exceptions for rape or incest when it comes to abortion. 

In his victory speech this week, Beshear praised Hadley Duvall, a young woman who appeared in one of his campaign ads where she condemns Republican Daniel Cameron’s support for the state’s abortion ban without exceptions for rape and incest.

“Because of her courage, this commonwealth is going to be a better place and people are going to reach out for the help they need,” Beshear said.

However, Beshear remains powerless to alter the near-total ban on abortion imposed by Kentucky’s conservative Supreme Court.

The latest wins for Democrats signal a positive change for all women in the US.

In June last year, the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade effectively removed the constitutional right to abortion for Americans.  

Following the decision, 14 states introduced near-total bans on abortion, while six others passed strict limits on abortion access.

The post How US voters turned out to support abortion rights appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Researchers from the Monash University Department of General Practice investigated abortion referral pathways for HealthPathways, an online health information system used by GPs that outlines recommended management of common conditions and local referral options, usually to hospital services.

The study’s findings were published in the Australian Journal of Primary Health and showed that GPs in public hospitals don’t currently have adequate information to refer women to abortion services. 

“Despite few remaining legal restrictions to abortion in Australia, many regions either do not have public abortion services or do not provide information about them,” said first author of the study and Monash University Academic GP Registrar Dr Sonia Srinivasan. 

The review from January-June 2022 extracted abortion service referral data from the 17 of 34 HealthPathways portals that consented to be included across all states and territories except Tasmania and South Australia.

Almost half (47 per cent) had no public services listed for surgical abortion, and 35 per cent had no public services for medical abortion. 

Most (63 per cent for surgical abortion, 66 per cent for medical abortion) emphasised that public services should be a last resort, directing referrers away from their abortion services and towards private providers. 

Dr Srinivasan added that the study found, “variation in information regarding gestation-specific options, the time-critical nature of referrals and the importance of women’s own preference when deciding between medical and surgical abortion.”

The findings show there is little transparency as to whether abortion services will be provided by a health service and under what circumstances they will be accessible to women who request them. 

For women in rural and regional areas of Australia, clear referral pathways for abortion services are especially crucial to be able to access care in a timely manner. 

As a result of the study’s findings, Dr Srinivasa said: “There is an urgent need for transparency around public abortion service availability, clear guidelines to support referral pathways, and commitment from State and Federal governments to expand the availability of accessible, no-cost abortion in Australia.”

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