France debates plan to enshrine abortion as constitutional right

Impetus for change was US supreme court overturning Roe v Wade, while Germany passes law banning harassment of women at abortion clinics

The French parliament has begun debating moves for France to become the first country in the world to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right, guaranteeing women access to the means to end a pregnancy voluntarily.

The justice minister, Eric Dupond-Moretti, told the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, on Wednesday that abortion rights were not simply a liberty like any other, because they allow women to decide their future".