The debate on the extension of the period of access to abortion will continue its legislative process.
The executive decided to include the bill on the agenda of the week reserved for it in the Senate.
The text of the deputy Albane Gaillot (ex-LREM), aiming to allow abortion up to 14 weeks of pregnancy - against 12 today - had already been adopted by the National Assembly on November 30.
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While the President of the Republic expressed his personal opposition, the continuation of his examination at the Luxembourg Palace was not assured.
Neither François Patriat - who heads the LREM group in the Senate - nor the Minister Delegate in charge of Relations with Parliament, Marc Fesneau, were in favor.
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But during a lunch on Monday, the Head of State and the Prime Minister finally gave the green light.
"It is an important gesture for the right of women to dispose of their bodies"
welcomed Albane Gaillot.
The right, majority in the Senate,
"will oppose it"
, indicates on the other hand Bruno Retailleau, the president of the LR group.
Patrick Kanner, at the head of the PS group, is cautious.
“The executive had closed the door.
And suddenly, gear change.
Either the President of the Republic had a revelation, or, more seriously, the progression of Valérie Pécresse in the polls greatly worries him.
He wants to put the bar on the left while suggesting that the right is reactionary.
It is a political coup.
But if it allows women's rights to progress, of course we will vote for this text, ”he
comments.
The day of his examination - in January - has not yet been precisely decided.
The bill should, logically, be rejected by the senators.
No voting instructions
In addition, the government will not express a voting instruction.
Even if the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, supports the bill.
He had publicly expressed himself in this direction in September.
At the end of its visit to the Luxembourg Palace, if a joint committee is not conclusive, the text will come back to the National Assembly.
The president of the walking deputies, Christophe Castaner, who strongly pleads for the extension of the period of access to abortion, hopes for a final adoption before February 28, date on which the parliamentary session will be suspended by the presidential campaign.
"It's a very tight agenda,"
admits a parliamentary source who still wants to believe in the adoption of the bill.
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At the head of a group mainly from the left center, Christophe Castaner hopes to show his ability to weigh against the executive.
The continuation of the examination of the text already delights the left wing of the majority, which usually struggles to win arbitrations.
“The debate will be hard in the face of a conservative right that has zemmourized.
But I call on all progressives to defend and vote for this breakthrough for women, ”
observes Senator Xavier Iacovelli, general delegate of Territories of Progress - the party of social democrats of the majority.