France urged to exonerate women convicted under old abortion laws

RFI

17 January 2025 at 5:56 am·1-min read

A woman returns to Paris in March 1974 after taking a bus to Amsterdam for an abortion, a year before France legalised the procedure.

As France commemorates 50 years since the law decriminalising abortion came into effect, prominent figures in politics and the arts are urging the government to exonerate women convicted for abortions before 1975.

“We, activists, researchers, elected officials, demand the rehabilitation of women unjustly convicted of abortion,” they wrote in a petition published on the Libération website.

The law, first debated by MPs in 1974, was championed by health minister Simone Veil and adopted for a trial period of five years before being made permanent in 1979.

Abortion had been criminalised in France since the 1800s, with convictions rising dramatically under the Vichy regime during World War II. Between 1940 and 1943, it was punishable by death.

Even in 1946, French courts ruled on 5,151 cases of clandestine abortions, the petition states.

"We cannot forget those who suffered, those who died as a result of clandestine abortion and even more, those who were condemned by unfair laws," the group wrote.

France's Veil abortion law leaves positive but fragile legacy, 50 years on

Restoring dignity

Notable signatories include Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux, Fondation des Femmes (Women's Foundation) president Anne-Cécile Mailfert, and actresses Laure Calamy and Anna Mouglalis.

“It is about restoring their dignity, but also giving them a worthy place in the history of women and their rights,” the petition says.

(with AFP)

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Restoring dignity

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