PARIS (AP) 鈥� Hundreds of people came out in Paris on Saturday, marching in support of the right to abortion for women across the world, just six months after France became the first country to a woman's right to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy.
The protest, organized by civil society groups to mark International Safe Abortion Day, also called for greater and easier access to abortion in France, denouncing budget cuts, staff reductions and the closure of abortion centers and maternity wards, which organizers say all contribute to penalizing women.
Sarah Durocher, president of France鈥檚 not-for-profit family planning services, said French women sometimes have to travel to another region to access the medical services needed to abort, denouncing the 鈥渙bstacle course鈥� they sometimes face.
Thibault Thomas, 28, said so that dozens of men could rape her while she was unconscious, was one of the reasons that motivated him to attend the protest on Saturday.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a mood in France, a particular context with the Mazan trial,鈥� he said, referring to the name of the small Provence town where the couple had bought their retirement home, and where the repeated rapes occurred.
鈥淭his sweeps away all the excuses, or all the mitigating circumstances that we thought could have existed before,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淚n fact it is something broader, generalized.鈥�
Earlier this year, France became the only country to explicitly guarantee a woman鈥檚 right to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy, when lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution.
Abortion in France has been legal since 1975 and enjoys wide support across most of the political spectrum.
Enshrining the right in the Constitution sought to prevent the kind of in recent years.
Still, many in the protest Saturday said the right to abort could never be taken for granted, especially at a time when far-right nationalist parties are gaining influence, and
鈥淓very time the far right comes to power, sexual and reproductive rights are threatened. I don鈥檛 see why there would be a French exception,鈥� said Durocher, stressing that every nine minutes, a woman dies somewhere in the world for not having been able to access safe abortion.. 鈥淪o obviously these rights are threatened.鈥�
Also in the march on Saturday was a small organization representing Colombian women in Paris, carrying a large purple banner with a feminist sign.
鈥淚n France, fortunately, it is enshrined in the constitution. But we know that when we exert pressure in France or in Latin America, we also help all women to say, 鈥榃e are not alone,'" said 49 year-old Talula Rodr铆guez. "We鈥檙e all going to fight for rights, rights over our bodies. It鈥檚 our choices.鈥�
Diane Jeantet, The Associated Press
