--- title: France Abortion Law Lifts Restrictions in Gender Equality Push description: France has passed a law that allows women to get an abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy with no questions asked. canonical: https://time.com/3086892/france-abortion-law-gender-equality/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-06T18:45:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:25.563Z og:title: France Abortion Law Lifts Restrictions in Gender Equality Push og:description: France has passed a law that allows women to get an abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy with no questions asked. og:url: https://time.com/3086892/france-abortion-law-gender-equality/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19404f91cc33f223/69869e9d1eebf72c38372274/najat-vallaud-belkacem.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: France's Women, Youth and Sports Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem arrives to attend a dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris May 5, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: France Abortion Law Lifts Restrictions in Gender Equality Push twitter:description: France has passed a law that allows women to get an abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy with no questions asked. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19404f91cc33f223/69869e9d1eebf72c38372274/najat-vallaud-belkacem.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # France Eases Abortion Restrictions in Sweeping Equality Law > Sponsored content. 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A blue state narrowly defeats a city-level ban on late-term abortion, while some of the toughest anti-abortion legislation is allowed to stand in a neighboring red state. Is the local ballot box the next frontier in the abortion war?_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 6, 2014 6:45 PM UTC  France's Women, Youth and Sports Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem arrives to attend a dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris May 5, 2014. France's Women, Youth and Sports Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem arrives to attend a dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris May 5, 2014. Gonzalo Fuentes—Reuters by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 6, 2014 6:45 PM UTC France [passed legislation](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/06/us-france-women-idUSKBN0G61OO20140806) this week allowing women to get abortions during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy with no questions asked, lifting previous restrictions as part of a sweeping and historic law meant to increase gender equality in the country. Previously, a French woman could only get an abortion if her condition put “her in a situation of distress.” The new law, signed Tuesday by French President François Hollande, also ensures women can access information about obtaining abortions, Reuters reports. The legislation provides protections for domestic abuse victims and supports more equal division of childcare and representation in politics. And it strives to creates a more equal job environment by encouraging men to take paternity leaves. “At a time when women in many parts of the world, including in the United States and Spain, are seeing their rights restricted, violated, and disrespected, France has set an important example for the rest of the globe with its progressive stance toward reproductive health care,” Lilian Sepúlveda, director of the Global Legal Program at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. “Ensuring a woman’s right to control her fertility is fundamental to achieving gender equality. But passing today’s law is just the first step—we now look to French policymakers to ensure women see the benefits of this historic law implemented this year.” When the law was initially introduced, France’s minister for women’s rights Najat Vallaud-Belkacem [told the _Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/20/french-mps-equality-law): “I don’t believe that history is going to spontaneously take us forward, so going towards more equality needs us to be politically proactive.” \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/06/us-france-women-idUSKBN0G61OO20140806)\] ## Transcript We begin with breaking news. The US Supreme Court says it will allow Texas to enforce new abortion restrictions. This law could stay in effect for now as the appeals process moves forward. That has led to at least a dozen abortion clinics in Texas closing. I think it's a huge setback for the pro- choice movement. Huge setback for abortion access. And I think it's a sign that the burden of proof will be very high for clinics to prove that these laws aren't overly onerous. [ MUSIC ] So there's another decision also, Molly, in New Mexico on abortion today. Right? This was a vote in the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, so it's a very local election on the issue of late- term abortion. Voters there rejected a measure 55 to 45 % that would have banned abortions, after a woman is five months pregnant. No one had ever tried to pass an abortion restriction at the local level for pro- life activists who are not focused on ballet measures. Who, who are focused on closing down specific clinics. This opens ups a new strategy for them to do that through ballet initiatives. Had it passed, it would have been the first municipal late term abortion restriction. But its unclear whether or not they are constitutional. Ultimately, the goal of the pro- life movement is to take the 20 week abortion ban to the Supreme Court. In red states, it's becoming increasingly difficult to get an abortion. New Mexico had some of the most lax abortion laws in the country. They have no limits on late- term abortions. The reason why the pro- life activists pursued the late- term abortion bill at the local level was, because they couldn't get it passed at the state level. I don't think that we'll see, a, you know, a city by city epidemic of anti- abortion laws, but I do think that we will see this again. How organized they were around the issue, I think that that really kind of energized them to take this elsewhere. So, I think that for the time being, it sort of is the wild west of the Pro Life groups pushing through abortion restrictions. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3086892/france-abortion-law-gender-equality/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3086892/france-abortion-law-gender-equality/"},"headline":"France Eases Abortion Restrictions in Sweeping Equality Law","datePublished":"2014-08-06T18:45:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:45:25.563Z","description":"Called \"historic\" step in gender equality push","url":"https://time.com/3086892/france-abortion-law-gender-equality/","keywords":["Living","abortion","women","France","politics","gender equality"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19404f91cc33f223/69869e9d1eebf72c38372274/najat-vallaud-belkacem.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19404f91cc33f223/69869e9d1eebf72c38372274/najat-vallaud-belkacem.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"France's Women, Youth and Sports Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem arrives to attend a dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris May 5, 2014.","caption":"France's Women, Youth and Sports Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem arrives to attend a dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris May 5, 2014.","creditText":"Gonzalo Fuentes—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3086892/france-abortion-law-gender-equality/","name":"France Eases Abortion Restrictions in Sweeping Equality Law"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Abortion: Check Yes or No","description":"A blue state narrowly defeats a city-level ban on late-term abortion, while some of the toughest anti-abortion legislation is allowed to stand in a neighboring red state. 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