Simone Veil and her draft law on voluntary termination of pregnancy

Simone Veil and her draft law on voluntary termination of pregnancy

In the gallery of the National Assembly, Simone VEIL, Minister of Health, presents her draft law on abortion reform. She states: "Abortion must remain the exception, the last resort for situations without a solution. but how can we tolerate it without society seeming to encourage it? I would like to share a woman’s conviction. I apologize for doing so before this assembly, which is almost exclusively composed of men. No woman uses abortion with joy of heart (applause). It is always a drama, it will always be a drama. Therefore, if the project takes into account the existing factual situation, if it admits the possibility of an interruption of pregnancy, it is to control it, and as far as possible to dissuade the woman". She then evokes the situation of women who find themselves in distress, whom the law rejects "in shame, shame and loneliness", and asks: "Among those who are fighting today against a possible amendment of the repressive law, how many are those who have been concerned to help these women in their distress, how many are those who, beyond what they consider a fault, demonstrated to young single mothers the understanding and moral support they so desperately needed?" (applause).

02

 

min

 

13

 

sec

File : Abortion in France

Publication date : 26 November 1974