For a policy of prevention of abortion

The government wants to celebrate on every 28^th of September a “World day for the right to abortion”, as if the legalization of abortion had been a progress of humankind, like the abolition of slavery. It is a denial of reality which does in no way diminish the sufferings that abortion will always cause. Even if it were given a “world day”, abortion will always be a “tolerated evil”, a derogation to the right to life.

In front of the Assemblée Nationale, Simone Veil explained of her law “that if it did not prohibit it anymore, it did not create a right to abortion”. It was also the approach of international law. During the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994, governments committed to “take appropriate steps to help women avoid abortion” and to “reduce the recourse to abortion”. This approach, oriented towards prevention, was also the one of Mrs Veil, who declared that if her law “admitted the possibility of a termination of pregnancy, it was to control it and, as much as possible, to try to have the woman change her mind”. For Mrs Veil, abortion is “always a tragedy and always will be a tragedy” that “must be avoided at all cost”. With 40 years of legal practice of abortion, its consequences on women appear clearly. According to an IFOP poll in 2010, 83% of French women consider that “abortion leaves psychological marks which are difficult for women to live with”. Abortion is a risqk factor for the physical and psychological health of women, and drastically increases psychological disorders and risks of developing an addiction to alcohol or drugs. Abortion also has substantial social, demographic and economic consequences: 8 million of abortions practiced in France since 1975 have disrupted the balance of the country.

Abortion rates are still very high in France. When the Veil law was adopted, deputies believed that the recourse to abortion would gradually disappear, except for extreme cases, thanks to contraception and education. Yet, not only has this practice not decreased, but it also increased of 4.7% between 2012 and 2013, even though it decreases in numerous European countries. It is a failure which demands a questioning of our policies. The recourse to abortion is not a fatality, it depends of political choices. Numerous European countries have manage to decrease the number of abortions, by making the political choice, not of promoting contraception, but of education to emotional and sexual education. On the contrary, countries, like France or the United-Kingdom which have the highest rates of contraception and sex education compulsory from the youngest age also have the highest levels of abortion. This is explained by the fact that contraception gives a false security and increases risky behaviours, so much so that the more contraception there is, the more risky behaviours there are, the more contraception failures there are and the more abortions there are. 72% of women who abort in France have a contraception. On the opposite, in Italy, the rate of abortion has decreased from 56% between 1982 and 2013 while the rate of contraception is now one of the lowest in Europe and that sex-education classes are not compulsory.

The increase in France of the recourse to abortion is worrying, especially among the youth. The latest study of the Smerep[1] reveals that 1 college student out of 10 has already had an abortion! Yet women who had an abortion before the age of 25 are exposed to a high of suffering from mental problems. After an abortion, 42% of them suffer from depression, 39% suffer from anxiety, 27% report having suicidal thoughts. 50% of young underage girls who had an abortion have suicidal thoughts! The Smerep recently alerted on this problem, with reason. Here again, educational choices are fundamental. France could also follow the example of the USA where the number of teen pregnancies dropped of 51% between 1990 and 2010 thanks to a campaign of sex-education centred on responsibility and abstinence. As a result, between 1991 and 2005, the number of high school senior who declared not having had sexual relationships dropped from 33% to 66%.

Finally, abortion is indeed a public health problem which demands a prevention policy. It is irresponsible to promote it as if it were a freedom. Abortion has well identified causes on which it is possible to act. 60% of French women say that “society should help women more to avoid having recourse to abortion”.

[1] One of the main student security firms in France.