“I will not touch the conscience clause of doctors”
who refuse to perform abortions.
The Minister of Labor and Health Catherine Vautrin assured this Thursday, March 7 on France 2 that the government had no plans to affect this protection which allows doctors to kick in and refer their patients to another practitioner, despite the demand of part of the political class and the fears of its defenders.
After the constitutionalization of the right to abortion on Monday, voices were raised at LFI to demand the removal of this double conscience clause, specific to abortion and permitted by the Veil law.
A symbol, above all, which aims to attack this second conscience clause motivated by religion or morality which is added, for abortions, to the general conscience clause of doctors who can refuse to perform any medical procedure.
To guarantee women effective access to abortion, sometimes complicated by the lack of practitioners available for the procedure, the Minister of Health prefers to
“expand the number of doctors who can perform it”
.
Midwives have been able to perform instrumental abortions since December, in addition to the medical abortions that they were already able to perform.
The modification of the Constitution
“absolutely does not render”
the conscience clause of health professionals obsolete, assured Sunday the Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti.