A scattered vote of Marine Le Pen’s 89 elected officials on the rebels’ bill to constitutionalize abortion. After a heated debate, 38 deputies from the National Group (RN) said yes, while 23 opposed it. 13 abstained.
A breakthrough for his opponents who took, during the examination of the text, a malicious pleasure in referring the extreme right to its past positions. Marine Le Pen, for example, had mentioned during her 2012 presidential campaign the case of “comfort abortions” that she wanted to reimburse.
An amendment to the Veil law
Deputy Caroline Parmentier, one of those closest to the former presidential candidate, made controversial statements in 2018 when she was a journalist for Herea traditional catholic magazine.
“After having ‘genocidated’ French children at the rate of 200,000 a year, we must now replace them with all our might by immigrants,” he explained then.
To appease any fire and avoid spreading its divisions, the RN presented during the debates a reform consisting of constitutionalizing the Veil law, so as not to “guarantee the right to abortion without conditions and without delay.” A way of emphasizing that the flame party is not against abortion.
“Not in the United States”
Still, his group’s division over the rebels’ text could keep things ambiguous. The deputy Philippe Ballard, who voted against, justifies himself by taking up arguments already deployed by the RN before the examination of the text.
“I consider that we are not in the United States. No political party in France questions the right to abortion,” the former journalist told BFMTV.com.
The decision to advance in the constitutionalization of abortion is directly linked to the decision of the US Supreme Court to revoke right to abortion in June.
“An unhelpful discussion”
José Gonzales, dean of the RN group in the Assembly, who abstained, takes up the same refrain.
“I was inclined to vote in favor, but I abstained because this (the debate) was not very useful,” explains the 79-year-old elected official. That he also specifies that he is in favor of “abortion but not beyond the limit of 14 weeks”, as currently provided by law.
“Nothing is written to guarantee” that the legal duration of access to abortion “does not go beyond,” says Philippe Ballard. He also laments the “absence” in the text of the “mention to the conscience clause”. This legal provision allows physicians who do not wish to perform this act to refer their patients to colleagues.
“Represent our electorate”
Bruno Bilde who voted in favor of the constitutionalization of abortion takes stock. And to point the finger at an IFOP poll from last summer in which 81% of respondents are in favor of including abortion in the Constitution.
“We must represent our electorate. The French have settled this debate, we are not going to reopen it,” he replies.
Proof, however, of the discomfort on the subject in the ranks of the RN: during the examination of the rebel text, certain amendments of the National Grouping were related to the inclusive wording or even to national preference. So far from abortion. Some saw it as filibuster to slow down the debate.
A text that should not succeed
By way of justification, the group defends itself and argues that these proposals required a constitutional reform, like the text under consideration. And to turn the tables on the government, which has done everything possible to stop the debates on the reinsertion of unvaccinated caregivers.
The constitutionalization of abortion was widely adopted with 337 votes in favor. However, this text is unlikely to go very far, as the senators rejected a very similar text last October.
Source: BFM TV
