Emmanuel Macron, President of France, has been championing “abortion rights” for years. In 2022 he tried to force the European Union to include it in its “Charter of Fundamental Rights”; when that failed, he attempted to insert it into the French Constitution, and failed again, but his dogged persistence paid off: one month ago, the text of the Constitution of France was amended to include abortion as a “basic right.”
Santiago Muzio, director of the Higher Institute of Sociology, Economics, and Politics of Madrid, provided his analysis to PRI:
“Out of 902 votes, between deputies and senators, 780 expressed themselves in favor of inscribing abortion in the Constitution and barely 72 against (in addition to 50 abstentions). What happened to the French pro-life opposition? Seeing the numbers, it seems that it doesn’t exist. The reality is a bit different. There are several factors that can explain the seemingly overwhelming result. The National Rally, Marine Le Pen’s political party, has set aside the fight against abortion for electoral opportunism since it wants to present itself to the French as a political force of ‘constructive opposition’. The party’s internal directives are to ‘not make noise’ about cultural battle issues to avoid losing voters. Marine wants power and is convinced that she will get it in 2027. The center-right, with parties like the Republicans, is very divided and weakened as it brings together very diverse political profiles. That’s where the most votes against were concentrated, but in the end, they were very few. All the other left-wing and progressive parties voted in favor as one.”
But how did France make such a profound shift in just two years? Muzio explains:
“In truth, making the Constitution protect abortion was a political move by Macron that tried to stigmatize lawmakers who voted against it by saying they are ‘extreme’ and ‘ultra’ right-wing. His idea, a bit desperate, was to gain votes three months before the European elections. Part of the trick didn’t work for him because almost all politicians voted in favor of his text. But in another aspect, he ‘won’ because he advanced with his pro-abortion agenda. Those who lost are the future babies who will continue to be sacrificed at the altar of progressivism, like the children thrown into the Moloch fire in Carthage, without bothering anyone since they die in silence and have no voice to defend themselves. Macron’s abortion totalitarianism knows no bounds. We are warned of what is to come, and we will have to prepare to fight it.”
Pro-abortion forces wasted no time. Within a week, they set out to include abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU – the closest thing to a constitution that the EU has.
While most of the MEP’s (Members of EU’s Parliament) were vigorous in their demand for abortion to become a ‘right,’ it was far from unanimous. Margarita de la Pisa, a member of the Spanish VOX party, said: “Let’s help women solve the circumstances that lead them to the dramatic decision of abortion: poverty, loneliness, the risk of losing their job, fear of not being accepted, or losing their freedom. Let’s stop seeing motherhood as a threat. Let’s appreciate life. We know that no mother regrets being one. The option of abortion leaves us abandoned and alone.”
MEP Isabel Benjumea, of the Spanish the Popular Party, also opposed the measure: “No matter what they call it, what we are talking about here is an ideological imposition. Mr. Macron’s imposition on the rest of Europe, flaunting political opportunism to forcibly introduce the culture of death in all the States of the Union. The will of a minority that arbitrarily, without scientific reason, must decide when and how human life is conceived for the majority. Will this Parliament admit to being the instrument in the service of this obstinate attack by this minority against the life we proclaim to defend?”
But can the European Parliament change the Charter of Fundamental Rights?
During the debate, MEP Nathalie Colin-Oesterlé, of the French Popular Party, explained why that can’t happen: “What Emmanuel Macron does not say is that today his plan is technically impossible. Impossible because it is not a European competence. Impossible because, given that the Charter of Fundamental Rights has the rank of Treaty, modifying it requires the unanimous agreement of the Governments of the Member States. And, contrary to what they have been led to believe, to include the right to abortion in the Charter, a simple majority vote in the European Parliament is not enough, but the unanimous agreement of all the Governments of the 27 Member States is necessary. In other words, the refusal of a single State makes it impossible to include this right in the Charter.”
To make any abortion measure unanimous, Macron and his allies will have to convince Hungary, Italy, and Malta – unless the MEP’s can change the rules.
But Macron has momentum: he won last month in France, now it’s Europe’s turn.
On April 11, the European Parliament approved a resolution calling for abortion to be included as a right in the Charter.
But putting it there is beyond the power of EU’s Parliament. The only way to change the Charter is for every member state, without exception, to agree. Currently, this is impossible: Italy and Hungary have clearly pro-life prime ministers. And Malta’s constitution expressly forbids membership in a pro-abortion European Union.
Could the pro-abortion lobby seek to change the requirement for unanimity and propose that these issues be resolved by majority vote and not unanimously? Of course they might. They are no respecter of rights or traditions.
The resolution itself requests that Article 3 of the Charter be amended to state that “everyone has the right to bodily autonomy, to free, informed, full and universal access to SRHR [ [sexual and reproductive health and rights], and to all related healthcare services without discrimination, including access to safe and legal abortion.”
It also explicitly criticizes some of the States such as Poland, Malta, Slovakia, and Hungary, for having more conservative policies on abortion than other countries. It urges governments in Europe to “ensure that abortion methods and procedures are a mandatory part of the curriculum for doctors and medical students.”
And recognizing the influence of Europe’s “anti-gender and anti-choice groups around the world,” the resolution “calls on the Commission to ensure that organizations working against gender equality and women’s rights, including reproductive rights, do not receive EU funding.”
Even if the Charter amendment is not approved, this resolution pressures countries to actively promote abortion and persecute pro-life advocates.
Margarita de la Pisa, a Spanish VOX party MEP who strongly opposed this resolution, declared: “It is a political intention that does not respond to a demand from society. The EU follows an international agenda, a trend that many politicians dare not question for fear of being singled out and displaced, a trend that seeks a social change that ends our culture. Yesterday’s vote was a betrayal of what has been achieved with the European project.”
Jaime Mayor Oreja, leader of One Of Us and NEOS in Spain, both allies of PRI, And US policy is involved: “The reason Macron and his allies are pushing this resolution is clear, it is a tactic to get ahead of the possible victory of Trump,” Mayor Oreja said.
The recent pro-abortion victories in France and the EU Parliament have dealt a blow to our pro-life efforts. We must view them as a challenge, not a defeat. PRI and our allies in Europe will work harder than ever – to educate candidates and voters and renew Europe’s culture, and bring about a new flourishing of Faith and family in the heart of Christendom.
