Why Are These Frenchwomen Smiling?

Before anything else, I’ll state that I support a woman’s right to choose to get an abortion.

If you don’t agree, then don’t read this.

Now…

At about the same time Texas was doing this…

Mexico was doing this:

According to the Times article,

“The decision does not automatically make abortion legal across Mexico, experts said, but it does set a binding precedent for judges across the country. Abortion rights advocates said they planned to use the ruling to challenge laws in the vast majority of Mexican states that mandate jail time or other criminal penalties for women who have the procedure.

“For now, analysts said, women arrested for having an abortion can sue state authorities to have the charges dropped. Activists also plan to push state authorities to free women now serving prison terms for having had abortions.”

This is astonishingly progressive for Mexico, the country with the second-highest Catholic population in the world.

And speaking of Catholic, of course the Catholic church had to make their usual noise about this decision. The article says,

“Leaders of the Catholic Church, whose regional influence has been waning but still carries considerable weight, swiftly condemned the ruling.

“‘Those of us who are convinced of the value of life do not have a need for a homicidal law like the one they are approving,’ read a tweet from the Episcopal Conference of Mexico, an organization of Catholic bishops.”

The juxtaposition of what’s going on in Mexico and what’s going on next door in Texas is remarkable.

The particulars of the Texas abortion law are horrifying.

And so is this:

Though I feel some hope – the Biden Administration and Department of Justice are challenging the Texas law:

So, while we’re awaiting the outcome, let’s turn our eyes to what I now think is the most enlightened country in the world, in terms of women’s reproductive health:

France.

Why do I think that?

Because as I was reading about the horror story in Texas, I happened across this information:

In France, not only is abortion legal – since 2013, it’s FREE:

And not only that, France has been offering free contraception to underage girls between the ages of 15 and 18 since 2013, and the country just expanded that coverage for women up to age 25:

Which is why I say…

So, in France, women’s rights are respected and protected.

No wonder these Frenchwomen are smiling!

And in Mexico, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Judge Zaldívar…

“…made clear that he saw Tuesday’s ruling as the first step toward a more fundamental transformation in Mexican society.

“‘Now begins a new path of freedom, of clarity, of dignity and respect for all pregnant people, but above all, for women,’ he said. ‘Today is one more step in the historic fight for their equality, for their dignity and for the full exercise of their rights.’”

Then…there’s Texas.

But at least future female victims of rape can take comfort.

Good ole Governor Greg Abbot reassured them – after signing the law that denies them an abortion after six weeks – that females no longer need fear being rape victims: