1975 ]two French films[

Two French films that came out within a few weeks of one another on the legalisation of abortion in 1975, following the MLAC activism in the previous years, the lawyer Gisèle Halimi‘s court pleadings, and Giscard’s underlying (and relatively) progressive presidency, which left Simone Veil endure the nasty flak of an exclusively male French Assembly. (Note: I have not watched either of the movies!)

abortion data, France vs. USA

As Le Monde pointed out at a recent report on 2019 abortions in France from Direction de la recherche, des études, de l’évaluation et des statistiques (Drees), showing an consistent rise in the number of abortions in France since 1995, with a rate of 15.6 abortions for 1000 women and the number around a third of the live births that year, I started wondering at the corresponding figures in the USA, given the much more restrictive conditions there. Judging from this on-line report by the Guttmacher Institute, the overall 2017 figures are not so different in both countries: while the abortion rate fell to 13.5‰, and the abortion/life birth ratio to 22%, the recent spike in abortion restrictions for most US States did not seem to impact considerably the rates, even though this is a nationwide average, hiding state disparities (like a 35% drop in Iowa or Alabama [and a 62% drop in Delaware, despite no change in the number of clinics or in the legislation]). In addition, France did not apparently made conditions more difficult recently (most abortions occur locally and the abortion rate is inversely correlated with income) and French (official) figures include off-clinic drug-induced abortions, while the Guttmacher institute census does not. The incoming (hasty) replacement of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg in the US Supreme Court may alas induce a dramatic turn in these figures if a clear anti-abortion majority emerges…

Simone for ever

Today is March 08, International Women’s Day, which also coincides with the 60th anniversary of the creation of the French equivalent of Planned Parenthood, le Planning Familial. The poster for the celebration of this anniversary is above [with Liberté half-cut from the picture], with three Simone who contributed to women’s rights: Simone de Beauvoir as feminist philosopher, Simone Veil as the lawmaker who succeeded in making abortion legal in France, and Simone Iff, as founder of Planning Familial… Given the current threats on the funding of Planning Familial, I want to stress their essential role in sexual education and information, and in providing free support and assistance towards pregnancy terminations. (Obviously, things are worse in the US where all Republican candidates call for defunding Planned Parenthood…)