In France, the National Assembly has passed a bill to constitutionally guarantee the right to abortion.
The bill must now be voted on in the Senate. The National Assembly voted 493 "yes" and 30 "no" votes for the bill.
The bill was promised by President Emmanuel Macron during the campaign before the last elections, following attempts to roll back abortion rights in the US.
In the US, the Supreme Court overturned a 50-year-old ruling guaranteeing the right to abortion in 2022.
Macron's government wants Article 34 of the French constitution to be amended to include the phrase "the law determines the conditions for the exercise of women's guaranteed freedom to resort to abortion".
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The bill will be debated in the Senate on February 28 and then voted on once more. Negotiations on the bill are expected to be more difficult in the Senate, where the right-wing is in the majority.
If the Senate reaches a consensus on the text adopted by the National Assembly, the final vote on the bill will be held in Parliament.
Since the bill envisages an amendment to the constitution, it must be put to a vote in the Parliament, which brings together the National Assembly and the Senate, and must receive the votes of three-fifths of the participants.
In France, women can legally have an abortion up to the 14th week of pregnancy.
If the bill is passed by Parliament, France will become the first country to guarantee the right to abortion in its constitution.
