As France guarantees the right to abortion, other European countries look to expand access
France has become the only country to explicitly guarantee the right to abortion in its constitution and other Europeans wonder whether a rollback of rights like the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision could happen in their countries
PARIS (AP) — As France becomes the only country to explicitly guarantee the right to abortion in its constitution, other Europeans look at the U.S. rollback of abortion access and wonder: Could that happen here?
Abortion is broadly legal across Europe, and governments have been gradually expanding abortion rights, with some exceptions. Women can access abortion in more than 40 European nations from Portugal to Russia, with varying rules on how late in a pregnancy it is allowed. Abortion is banned or tightly restricted in Poland and a handful of tiny countries.
The 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning long-held abortion rights was the catalyst for the French parliament's overwhelming vote Monday to add a constitutional amendment proclaiming “the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.”
Here is a look at recent developments on abortion rights in some European countries:
