VERSAILLES, France (BP) – Evangelicals in France voiced a measured objection to the enshrinement of abortion in the country’s constitution in advance of the historic move March 4, citing concerns for freedoms of conscience, expression and opinion.
France became the first country to enshrine abortion rights into a national constitution March 4. Its Parliament overwhelmingly amended Article 34 of the Constitution to specify that “the law determines the conditions in which the freedom of women is exercised, which is guaranteed to them, to have recourse to an abortion.”
The National Council of Evangelical Churches of France (CNEF) urged Parliament March 1 to protect the rights of conscientious objection for healthcare workers, and the freedoms of speech and opinion. But CNEF fell short of urging Parliament to strap the constitutional change that was first proposed just after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Southern Baptist leader Brent Leatherwood, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told Baptist Press March 5 he believes France will grow to regret the constitutional change.
“I believe, in time, the French will come to regret this villainous action. It is nothing short of a ghoulish thing to add the destruction of life to a national charter,” Leatherwood said. “Planned Parenthood rejoices while the preborn are terrorized. Despite what activists, politicians and parts of culture want you to believe, abortion is not healthcare and the leaders of France have made a heinous decision that will lead to innocent life being taken.”
We like to tell ourselves a story of progress, that we are making strides in human dignity and protecting the vulnerable. But terrible events like this reveal we have a long way to go before we truly love our neighbor, including the preborn, as ourselves.
Brent Leatherwood
