Abortion engraved this Friday in the Constitution: how its access will now also be facilitated in maternity wards

Le nombre de professionnels pratiquant l’IVG sera élargi. MAXPPP – Luc Nobout

Plusieurs restrictions seront levées par le gouvernement d’ici à la fin du mois pour permettre aux sages-femmes de réaliser ces actes.

This is a new signal sent by the executive in defense of the right to abortion. At a time when the Head of State is preparing to participate, this Friday, in a ceremony to seal the constitutional revision integrating the inclusion of voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) in the fundamental law, the government also wishes to facilitate access to it concretely on the ground.

Catherine Vautrin, Minister of Labor, Health and Solidarity, announced a relaxation of the rules on Thursday.

Reigns restricting access to abortion

Midwives will now be able to carry out "alone", instrumental abortion, a demand supported by the occupation. These professionals could already practice them theoretically, but the act was until now conditional on the presence of a doctor specializing in orthogenics, an obstetrician-gynecologist, an anesthesiologist and an ;rsquo;an embolization tray.

Conditions that only meet "large maternity hospitals", pointed out Caroline Combot, president of the National Trade Union Organization of Midwives (ONSSF ), cited by Le Parisien and l’AFP.

"I will not touch the conscience clause"

The text was therefore inapplicable in small centers, sometimes located precisely in medical deserts, "which already have difficulty offering enough appointments for ;Abortion for women who wish to have an abortion", denounced Delphine Giraud, co-president of the Association of orthogenic midwives, at the microphone of France Info.

“We must be able to act quickly”: the subject is debated

The president of the National Union of Anesthetist-Resuscitation Practitioners, Anne Geffroy-Wernet, reacted Thursday to the rewriting of the decree, warning, in Le Figaro, of the risks of serious complications. "Instrumental abortions performed under general anesthesia can be followed by hemorrhages or perforation of the rus", warns the anesthesiologist-resuscitator. "In these cases, you need to be able to act quickly", she believes, judging that It is necessary that a specialist doctor is not far from a midwife when she performs an instrumental abortion.

Last month, the ONSSF therefore filed with the Ministry of Labor, Health and Solidarity "a gracious appeal requesting repeal"< /em> of the decree imposing these rules, judging it "restrictive" and "counterproductive".