On March 8, International Women's Rights Day, the statue of Simone Veil on the eponymous square in La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée) was vandalized, report our colleagues from Ouest-France.
The chilling scene was discovered by local residents this Friday morning, shortly before 9 a.m.
Around the statue of this figure in the fight for the right to abortion, baby dolls covered in fake blood were placed.
A red powder was poured into the adjoining fountain, symbolizing a blood-colored liquid.
Finally, a poster “the Constitution is killing our children” was plastered on the bust of the statue.
A complaint filed
Contacted, the town hall of La Roche-sur-Yon confirms having filed a complaint.
“We contacted the prosecutor as soon as we became aware of the act,” we are told, specifying that the statue was cleaned.
This action comes four days after the vote including voluntary termination of pregnancy in the Constitution and on the day of the sealing of abortion in the French Constitution.
Adopted in 1975, the law decriminalizing abortion, the first step in a long journey, was brought to the National Assembly by Simone Veil, then Minister of Health in the Chirac government.
Also read: Simone Veil, the battles of an Immortal
The damage to the statue can also be explained, according to the town hall, by the installation near Place Simone Veil of an equality village, aimed at promoting women's rights.
Many activities are currently being carried out in the village around this theme.
The statue of Simone Veil in La Roche-sur-Yon had already been vandalized in 2019, sprayed with blue paint less than a week after the inauguration of the square bearing the name of the famous politician, recalls Ouest-France.