Macron Sets Precedence For Liberal European Governments Looking To Use Their Constitutions To Preserve Abortion
The United States Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade in 2022 effectively ruled that their Constitution does not guarantee the right to an abortion. Justice Samuel Alito wrote that “the Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision…”
This decision by the U.S Supreme Court made pro abortion leaders, lawmakers and activists in Europe very jittery. President Emmanuel Macron of France responded to this by pledging to guarantee abortion “rights” by enshrining it in their Constitution. The following statement was posted on his social media during International Women’s Day, “A universal message of solidarity to all women who today see this right violated: France will engrave in its Constitution the freedom of women to have recourse to abortion.”
Amending the French Constitution requires either a referendum or a three fifth’s majority vote by a joint session of both houses of parliament. Despite pro-life legislators arguing that France’s abortion “rights'' were not at risk, French lawmakers this year voted with a massive majority to include abortion in their Constitution. Killing babies in the womb has been legal in France since 1975 and according to polls, about 80% of the French people are in favor of this. The widespread support for abortion has meant that even Conservative Parties like Marine LePen’s National Rally Party have shied away from actively opposing this legislation.
When Roe v Wade was overturned in the United States, President Macron and other pro-abortion leaders in Europe immediately became concerned, fearing that the same thing could happen in their own backyard. Putting abortion in the Constitution was their way of making it hard for a conservative government to repeal any existing abortion laws enacted by a liberal government.
President Macron and other radical leftist leaders have a reason to fear this scenario because according to a recent report done by the European Council on Foreign Relations, conservative parties are becoming more popular in many European nations. After every five years, Europeans elect representatives to represent them in the European Parliament. A more conservative Europe means a more conservative European Parliament, which would mean more conservative policies being put into EU Legislation.
European Union Legislation is binding and takes precedence over national laws in areas where the EU has competence (powers that the member states have conferred to it). However, national constitutions remain the Supreme Law of the land especially in areas not covered by the EU Law. In some cases, a clash between EU Law and the national law can occur, requiring a balancing act between respecting national sovereignty and ensuring the uniform application of EU Law across the member states.
This dance between a potentially conservative EU Law and an individual country’s national laws has informed the actions of President Macron and other liberal european leaders. They want to make it harder to safeguard the right to live for the unborn through legislation.
Africa is largely conservative, but this hasn’t stopped liberal western governments and institutions from attempting to push through pro-abortion policies to the continent. In Kenya, when the (then proposed) 2010 Constitution was about to be put to a referendum, powerful American lobby groups wanted strong “protections” for abortion and were upset at a clause in the Constitution that specifically said that “the life of a person begins at conception”.
Pro-Life voices in Kenya have long warned about foreign entities funding an abortion culture in the country. There is a strong belief that these pro-abortion entities and their governments have been trying to pressurize Kenya to adopt a more pro-abortion legislation. It is important to pay attention to how legislation and the constitution are a key frontier in the fight to protect the lives of the unborn.
