On January 17, 1975, the Veil law legalized abortion: “It is a decision that is never simple, it marks women for life”

Dans l’unité d’orthogénie du centre de santé sexuelle, un accueil qui se veut bienveillant pour les femmes qui choisissent de faire une IVG. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

Fifty years ago, on January 17, 1975, the Veil law equalized voluntary termination of pregnancy and affirmed “women's right to control their bodies.” And today, ? The entry of the right to abortion into the constitution in March 2024 has not resolved all the obstacles: unequal access depending on the territory, lack of resources, etc. in 2023, more than 22,000 IVGs were performed in Occitanie, including 688 in Béziers, where the orthogeny team talks about its daily life.

“Here, we have the impression that access to IVG is easy” : a structured team and a caring care pathway, a dedicated space well separated from the one where pregnant women are received, the possibility of speaking before and after, and women seen in less than five days, sometimes a few hours after making contact… at Béziers hospital, the circuit is “fluid”. It also relies on gynecologists, midwives, social workers, family and social counselors… and, outside, on “a network of midwives mobilized in private practice”.

This Thursday, January 16, on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the Veil law that legalized the right to abortion, six IVGs are scheduled at the Béziers hospital, a usual “big day” for the team that has carried out 686 voluntary terminations of pregnancy in 2024, barely two more than the previous year. The vast majority of women are between 20 and 35 years old. Four women were over 45 years old.

The state of affairs in Occitania. Midi Libre – SOPHIE WAUQUIER

“It's a decision that is never easy, pre-abortion consultations are long because they bring up a lot of things, past sexual assaults, domestic violence, guilt… it's an act that will mark women for life”, insists Sylvie Gibelin, one of the two midwives at the center.

“It's not “deal with your emotions, you have to be able to manage”

Julie, 26, two months pregnant, her administrative file under her arm, head down on her smartphone in the waiting room, felt like she was getting into a “boxing ring” to convince her partner and resist family pressure. “I already have two young children. The first was born through assisted medical procreation. We were told that we wouldn't be able to have a baby… when the second miraculously arrived a year later, we decided to keep him. But it was no longer possible with the third pregnancy last year, when her periods returned”, reports the young woman, who “makes sure to take the pill”.

This Thursday, January 16, Julie, 26, has an appointment at the Béziers hospital for an abortion, her second. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

This time again, “the decision was very complicated to make, but I want to be able to take care of my children, and we don't have the means”, regrets the Biterroise, relieved to be “accompanied”: “It's not “deal with your emotions”, you have to be able to manage”.

Economic difficulties, ecological or political concerns… not having children is increasingly a choice: “Ideals have changed and it is no longer necessarily to become a parent. More and more patients are asking us for tubal ligation”, report gynecologists.

“No one understood that it was not my choice”

“My name is Hélène. I had an abortion on Wednesday, January 20, 1999, at the hospital in Béziers. At the time, no one understood that it was not my choice. I was going to be 18 and the father of my twins attended all the interviews. I was unable to ask anyone for help. I would have liked more discretion to be able to ask for help.
Today, I have three wonderful children and I campaign for the right to abortion. However, every January 20, I cry for my lost twins”: invited to testify on abortion, few readers reacted this week to Midi Libre's proposal. “It's really a very intimate experience. And very painful”, Elena emphasizes modestly.

“I remember demonstrating in Paris for the law when I was 20, after having lived this abortion journey. There are still too few centers and doctors for this intervention”, deplores another, while reactions still focus on a debate that one might think is closed between “anti” and “pro” IVG.

But faced with the choice of IVG, for fifty years, generations have passed, “the feeling does not change”, notes Sylvie Gibelin. Women come “often alone”, “it's up to her to make the decision”, because “the burden of contraception” weighs, mostly, on them.

Fannette Galtier, gynecologist, medical referent of the sexual health center, Sylvie Gibelin, midwife, and Samantha Huet-Mantion, gynecologist (from left to right) SCAM20250116A01 Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

“We see them in a difficult moment”, support Fannette Galtier, obstetrician-gynecologist, medical referent of the sexual health center, and her colleague Samantha Druhet-Mantion, also head of department at the maternity ward of the hospital which will open, in June 2025, a “women's house”.

“The idea that from the age of 40, we are pre-menopausal”

“Forgetting contraception” or “no contraception”, “rejection of hormonal contraception”, “breakdown in care”, the reasons for an unwanted pregnancy are multiple. Including the idea “that from the age of 40, we are pre-menopausal”.

“We also see women who had a desire for a child but who realized, once pregnant, that their relationship is not ready”, says Fannette Galtier. And women who back out once the appointment is made: “In 2024, 834 women were seen for pre-abortion consultations. Among them, there were miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and those who changed their minds” .

“I even saw a cancellation while the woman was in the operating room”, testifies Samantha Druhet-Mantion, worried like everyone else, to see rights and freedom of choice being reduced: “When we see what is happening in the United States, in Poland… nothing is a given”.

Women convicted of abortion: Hérault senator Hussein Bourgi supports the petition

“In this year of commemoration, we are calling for a law to rehabilitate and repair women convicted of abortion”, before the Veil law of 1975: launched by the Fondation des femmes, a collective of artistic and political personalities, the petition, relayed by Hussein Bourgi, signatory of the text, will indeed result in a bill, assures the PS senator from Hérault. “The Fondation des femmes was inspired by my bill relating to the criminalization of homosexuals between 42 and 82. These feminist activists asked me to enlighten them and support them in this request. I will very soon submit a bill with my colleague Senator Laurence Rossignol,” assures Hussein Bourgi. Other signatories include Nobel Prize-winning writer Annie Ernaux, actresses Laure Calamy and Julie Gayet, feminist activist Anne-Cécile Mailfert, president of the Fondation des femmes, and historians Michelle Perrot and Bibia Pavard.

“In medical studies, are you reminded of what it was like before 1975? ?”, she asks Lisa Fontaine, a sixth-year medical student who is in the department for the day.

It's “no”. Lisa Fontaine, who is doing her internship in the emergency department, doesn't know if she will choose gynecology. But she is not there by chance: “I have seen a lot of distress in women who learn they are pregnant during a visit to the emergency room, who say they want to have an abortion. I wanted to see what happens afterwards.”

Philippe Deruelle from Montpellier is president of the National Professional Council of Obstetrics and Medical Gynecology. DR

“We must ensure that women do not travel 150 km for an abortion”

Professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the Montpellier University Hospital and the Montpellier Nîmes Faculty of Medicine, Philippe Deruelle is also president of the national council of obstetrics and medical gynecology.

The national college of gynecologists is asking for more resources to enforce the right to abortion, what is the problem ?

The right to abortion was included in the Constitution last year, we are delighted about it, it is an extremely strong symbol. But behind that, we have to make sure that territory by territory, the deadlines for access to IVG are respected, and that women are not forced to travel 150 km for an IVG.

This is the case in Occitanie ?

We are rather a territory well covered by the provision of care, but at the Montpellier University Hospital, we have patients who arrive from Lozère, Millau, Saint-Affrique. It is not normal that women sometimes find themselves with a month's delay!

Why ?

The big problem with abortion, like the provision of care in general, is rurality. People have to travel miles to access healthcare. Doctors often “turn around”, don't perform abortions regularly, and won't take the “risk” of performing an abortion. For example, at the university hospital, we have a lot of late-term abortions, because it's a specific procedure. I can understand that colleagues don't know how to do it. technically more complicated.

Do we need more resources? ? I don't know. We need more human resources, with people who are committed. I am a PU-PH and I force myself to perform abortions to set an example.

Many doctors invoke a “conscience clause” to refuse an abortion ?

It is hard to know. We hear here and there that professionals refuse. It is more “rewarding” to perform a complicated caesarean. And we have an influx of doctors from foreign countries in France who arrive with a different culture, not necessarily the Maghreb but also Eastern countries. Regional health agencies and hospital directors must be vigilant. I am a believer, I live my faith in the private sector. Abortion is an inalienable right, and I tell my students that you cannot choose the specialty of gynecology if you do not want to perform abortions. We are committed to women's health, which includes gynecological violence and women's right to control their bodies, including voluntary termination of pregnancy.

Why do you think abortion rates are increasing in France? ?

I think there is a problem with contraception, which remains imperfect. And I still see young pregnant women who don't understand their cycle, who have no reference points.

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