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Extending abortion: what does this change for women?

2022-03-21T16:39:34.364Z


On February 23, Parliament passed a law allowing abortion to be extended from 12 to 14 weeks. A measure adopted after months of heated debate.


"The fight was long, but we got there," rejoices ex-LREM MP Albane Gaillot.

On February 23, the elected representative had one of the key measures of her bill, known as “Gaillot” – adopted, in final reading – aimed at strengthening the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG): its extension 12 to 14 weeks.

Although France is still far behind the Netherlands, the latter granting a period of 5 and a half months to its citizens (22 weeks), Albane Gaillot remains satisfied with these additional 14 days.

"It's a huge victory for women, and it proves that mentalities are changing," she exults.

Indeed, after months of heated debates and back and forth between parliamentarians, the MP can claim to have won the majority during the council,

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Because if there have been advances since the Veil law (1975), the right to abortion remains, even today, a public health problem.

Indeed, according to a report by the Assembly dating from September 2020, they are, each year, “between 3000 and 4000 women” to exceed the deadlines and to have an abortion abroad.

A solution in extremis reserved for the luckiest, since it requires to be 18 years old or to be accompanied by a legal guardian, and to bring an envelope of 1,000 euros.

"The risk being that people who do not have the means may have recourse to a clandestine abortion," continues the government report.

Obstacle course

Thus, for Ghada Hatem, obstetrician-gynecologist, founder and head doctor of the Maison des Femmes, in Saint-Denis, the two-week extension of abortion is a real step forward.

“It is important to be aware that women do not choose to exceed the legal deadlines”, protests the practitioner, deploring to still have to come up against the incomprehension of certain colleagues.

Thus, she recalls that to understand the issues of the extension of abortion, it is important to become aware of the reasons that push women to go beyond it.

Among the most frequent factors, Ghada Hatem lists pell-mell: the onset of menstruation, often due to denial, the case of minors who cannot speak to their family about it, that of women in precarious situations.

as many

sharp drop in doctors in France, Editor's note

), an increasingly present problem, and which is seized by all the 2022 presidential candidates.

Indeed, the importance of the extension of the abortion period takes on its full meaning in the face of the medical desertification that affects French territory.

According to the latest classification of the ARS (regional health agency) this phenomenon would mainly affect the Ile de France, followed closely by the Centre-Val de Loire, the PACA region or even the Hauts-de-France and Franche- County.

Thus, with the gradual closure of care centers in these areas, such as Family Planning (nearly 130 centers have closed over the past 15 years), and the general lack of practitioners, making an appointment with a specialized gynecologist is turns into a real obstacle course.

“For a woman in a precarious situation residing in the provinces, going to a care center and finding the time to get there,

“For a woman in a precarious situation living in the provinces, finding Family Planning is now a challenge”.

Ghada Hatem, gynecologist and founder of the Maison des Femmes

The training of midwives

A considerable time saver for those who discover their pregnancy too late, this law intends, in parallel, to allow midwives to perform abortions by instrumental (or surgical) means, thus strengthening the teams of practitioners.

Since 2016, they have only been authorized to perform abortions by medication.

A measure ending the exclusive competence of doctors.

For MP Albane Gaillot, “there are a large number of midwives in the field, already performing intrauterine procedures, including the placement of an IUD.”

Although they constitute quality reinforcements in areas lacking in doctors, the issue of training is still debated.

“The voluntary interruption of pregnancy by instrumental way requires a technique, a gesture which is practiced over years.

It's a medical act, and I don't find that very reasonable,” contests obstetrician-gynecologist Ghada Hatem.

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Psychological support

In addition to this disagreement, everyone agrees that these two additional weeks will allow better psychological support for patients.

“We are often very frustrated to see women arriving in our centers in a rush.

Skipping the abortion at 14 weeks will allow us to better guide them, directing them to psychologists if they are hesitant, for example, when we often don't have the time.

Either they abort regretfully, or they don't and the children face the repercussions themselves, continues Ghada Hatem.

It will be more comfortable for them, but also for us”.

If the elected Albane Gaillot already observes the positive effects of her reform, in particular by “the testimonies of women” that she finds in the centers of Family Planning, progress still remains to be made.

The MP points in particular to the double conscience clause which weighs on abortion, giving the possibility to the medical profession to say no to an intervention.

“A doctor has the right to refuse to perform an abortion if it goes against his ethics, for example.

The conscience clause is part of the profession, and it is better that he does not do it rather than doing it badly, ”defends Ghada Hatem.

And to add: “On the other hand, with this new reform, they are now obliged to immediately direct patients to someone else, which was not the case before.”

In video, "I myself had an abortion", the deputy Clémentine Autain testifies to her abortion

Finally, the underlying objective of the “Gaillot” law is, in the long term, to de-stigmatize abortion.

“The haste, the deadlines that are too short, recourse abroad... Too many women see abortion as a tragedy.

This creates stress and guilt trauma.

This is a big mistake, because abortion is more of a solution, and has always been part of women's lives, ”concludes the MP.

Also, to critics who could point to medical complications because of this two-week extension, a report by the National Ethics Advisory Committee repeated that there was "little, if any, difference in risk for the woman having an abortion. between 12 and 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Source: lefigaro

All business articles on 2022-03-21

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