Leah Weinstein. “Women have abortions, legal or not, whether they like it or not.

On January 17, 1975, after years of intense debate, the law allowing voluntary abortion (IVG) was officially promulgated in France. This law, known as the “Veil Law”, is today associated with the figure of the then Minister for Health, Simon Vale, who strongly defended the bill before the then “almost exclusively ‘male'” National Assembly.

For the 50th anniversary of this law, Ina collected the testimonies of hundreds of women who had secret abortions in 1975. Among them are author Annie Erno and former minister Christiane Taubira, which can be found in a documentary, a series of podcasts and a book Just listen women (1) by Léa Veinstein (to be published on January 22). For: Madame Figarothe writer tells the reality of secret abortion. Interview:

Madame Figaro .- Your documentary film Just listen women gives voice to those who have had clandestine abortions in France What common story emerges from these interviews?
Leah Weinstein. Although each story is personal, we consider the timing of the abortion.First is the discovery of the pregnancy. In general, this moment is a complete surprise for women. You have to remember the context of the 1960s, when there was almost no sex education. So sometimes this pregnancy falls on them. This is what Giselle Halimi remembers during her pleas at the Bobini trial (In 1972, a lawyer defended young Marie-Claire Chevalier on trial for having an abortion.Editor’s note), when she says that women need to know how to get pregnant. In addition to the lack of knowledge about their own body and its work, contraceptives are not at all common. Of course, the pill already exists, but you need to buy it Do you have parental permission?

After the shock of pregnancy is over, it’s time to decide. Abortion was illegal then, completely forbidden. Women generally don’t know how to do it, they have no one to talk to about it, and yet they don’t doubt it. The vast majority of them even say they are ready to die . There is this obvious fact that they do not want this pregnancy, that it is not possible.

These women who testify about their secret abortions come from all walks of life…
Yes, we see all the profiles. The event A young student, in her twenties, who lives at her university, who is at the beginning of her sexual life and discovers that she is pregnant. However, even if many witnesses appear in this scenario, there are also women who are already mothers 2 or 3 children, and for whom it is simply impossible to continue the pregnancy due to financial or professional reasons.

What is the journey like for those who decide to have a secret abortion?
Some women tell themselves they’ll do it on their own, like sticking needles or falling down the stairs… And then there are all the others, the vast majority, who are looking for a “solution”, “address”, “angel maker”. from the mouth. Until shortly before the law, in 1972, the most common method of abortion was a catheter inserted by “angel makers,” women who sometimes did not come from the medical profession and who performed the procedure secretly in their homes for a fee.

The vast majority of women who sought clandestine abortions even said they were willing to die

Leah Weinstein

In other words.
When the women finally find a connection, we will set a price for them. They are then offered a hole to insert the probe. When the act is done, it causes bleeding. In most cases, when this bleeding occurs, women go to the hospital claiming to have a miscarriage. Total hypocrisy of the doctor because the doctors know very well what is happening. And besides, it opens the door to a lot of violence. Women describe a hostile medical profession that can inflict gynecological and psychological abuse, or worse. To my surprise, many of the testimonies mention sexual harassment and rape.This is also the reality of secrecy. Since the abortion takes place under the radar, the woman is completely vulnerable and subject to the doctors. simpler and much safer for women, came from the United States and profoundly changed the way things were done.

This secrecy can also lead to a tragic outcome…
Yes, many women have died during clandestine abortions. We will never know how many deaths there were, but what is certain is that they have been killed for a long time. Actress Ana Girardo, whose grandmother died during a clandestine abortion, also says in the documentary by Sonia Gonzalez and Bibia Pavard that it was a taboo in her family for a long time. People preferred to say that his grandmother died of appendicitis.

“You just have to listen to the women” is the title of your work, and these are also the words of Simone Weil in 1974. on November 26, in front of an almost all-male National Assembly. “You just have to listen to the women,” and yet they were condemned to remain underground until 1975… Why did it take so long for them to have abortion rights?
First because abortion was against the patriarchal and male supremacy of the law. Then there is something about the survival of the species, and religious issues are never far away. Anyway, until the beginning of the 20th^e In this century, abortion is an act that seems impossible to legalize. After the Second World War, the country had to be resettled. Therefore, it was impossible to imagine a law that would allow women to limit pregnancy.

In what context did Simon Weil introduce this law in 1974?
Abortions were very common in the years before the Veil. Everyone knows that, and it’s a media topic we’re talking about. In 1972, the Bobini trial especially provided an opportunity to put the topic into public debate, and Giselle Halimi’s goal was to have a trial. For history and to highlight the hypocrisy of the law, there are also public calls to legalize abortion, such as 343 manifesto (a column written by Simone de Beauvoir, published on April 5, 1971. The New Observer). And then, there is the conquest of women’s rights through militant movements and the voice of feminist associations. In 1974, the government had to act, it simply had no other choice. Knowing that the first attempt to revise the law was already made by the Mesmer government (during the presidency of Georges Pompidou). In vain. When Valérie Giscard d’Estaing was elected president, she knew action had to be taken on abortion and chose Simone Weil to lead the charge.

Fifty years later, how do you rate progress in terms of women’s rights and access to abortion in France?
I would already mention the progress. Abortion today is covered by Social Security, which was not the case in 1975, and access to it is supposed to be guaranteed nationwide.There are places where a woman can arrive in the morning and get an abortion in the afternoon for free. This seems to be accepted, but it is important to emphasize it when we see what is happening in some countries. Thus, in France, the right to abortion is guaranteed, it is constitutionalized, and this is an undeniable and valuable progress.

Then, of course, it is important to be vigilant. We know that this is an extremely fragile right. Women’s freedom to control their bodies is and will always be at risk. And men need to take it upon themselves to make sure this is not a “good women” issue. After all, there are still problems to be solved. We must, for example, pay attention to deadlines and ensure that abortion is easily accessible everywhere in France.

Despite this progress, abortion rights are declining in some countries. This is the case in Poland and the United States, where the topic was at the center of the debate during the last presidential election. What are the main challenges today?
Abortion is a right that is constantly under threat. It can be changed at any time. It is good that it is constitutionalized in France, but the Constitution can be changed. What is happening in the United States is not only an American problem. All over the world we see a rise in anti-women ideology, with Trump and his supporters allergic to the fact that women can control their bodies. This is a concrete threat to American women who will have no choice but to create a clandestine abortion network, because whether we like it or not, women are having abortions.

(1) Just listen women By Leah Weinstein, Ed. Flammarion, 288 pages, 21 euros.