France enshrines abortion as a constitutional right as the world marks International Women's Day

France enshrines abortion as a constitutional right as the world marks International Women’s Day

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France becomes the only country to explicitly guarantee abortion as a constitutional right

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Women worldwide participated in International Women’s Day, taking part in strikes, marches and demonstrations that underscored efforts to combat discrimination and accelerate the drive for gender parity. (March 8) (AP Video: Joeal Calupitan, Florent Bajrami, Renata Brito, Muhammad Farooq, Yong Jun Chang/Production: Marissa Duhaney)

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Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti and French President Emmanuel Macron, background right, attendattend a ceremony to seal the right to abortion in the French constitution, on International Women’s Day, at the Place Vendome, in Paris, France March 8, 2024. France inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion in its constitution Friday, a powerful message of support for women’s right on International Women’s Day. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool Photo via AP)

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Police pushes a woman activist as they tried to march near the Malacanang presidential palace during an International Women’s Day protest in Manila, Philippines on Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

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An activist holds up a poster during an International Women’s Day rally in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, March 8, 2024. Hundreds of people took to the streets Friday in Indonesia’s capital to mark International Women’s Day by voicing concern over the state of democracy in the country. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

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Women activists raise bras to symbolize their breaking free from restrictions imposed on them as they join an International Women’s Day protest in Manila, Philippines on Friday March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Favila)

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Women supporters of a religious party Jamaa-e-Islami take part in a rally to mark the International Women’s Day in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

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Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions march during a rally marking International Women’s Day in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

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A Cambodian civil society organization member prepares a canvas during a celebration to mark the International Women’s Day at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh Cambodia, Friday, March 8, 2024. The canvas reads “Guarantees the rights of women and girls for economic stability and social justice.” (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

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CORRECTS PLACE - Cambodians attend a running event called “Women of Victory” to mark the International Women’s Day at at a public park in Phnom Penh Cambodia, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

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Swimmers take a dip in the Firth of Forth at Portobello in Edinburgh, to mark International Women’s Day, on Friday March 8, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

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A man goes down the escalator in the subway holding bunches of flowers purchased from the flower market on International Women’s Day, in Moscow, Russia, early Friday, March 8, 2024. International Women’s Day on March 8 is an official holiday in Russia. Per tradition, men give flowers and gifts to female relatives, friends and colleagues, even though in the past two years flowers have gotten more expensive. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

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Activists shout slogans during an International Women’s Day protest in Manila, Philippines on Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

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Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions stage die-in during a rally marking International Women’s Day in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

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From left, France’s Senate President Gerard Larcher, National Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal Deputy Minister for Gender Equality Aurore Berge, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti attend the “seal of the abortion right article 34 into the constitution at the Palace of Versailles, Monday, March 4, 2024 in Versailles, France, west of Paris. Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the bill to enshrine abortion rights in its constitution, making it the only country to explicitly guarantee a woman’s right to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy. (Emmanuel Dunand/Pool Photo via AP)

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Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions stage die-in during a rally marking International Women’s Day in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

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Machindra Thapa, 47, right, and Vishnu Maya Chettri, 52, prepare the Damaha, one of the instruments of the naumati baja, before a rehearsal in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Once associated only with men from the Damai community, part of the lowest caste, nine women from varied castes have come together in this band to play the naumati baja, or nine traditional instruments. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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A woman votes in a referendum on the proposed changes to the wording of the Constitution relating to the areas of family and care, at Old St Joseph’s Gym Hall, in Dublin, Ireland, Friday, March 8, 2024. As the world marks International Women’s Day, in Ireland, voters are deciding on Friday whether to change the constitution to remove passages referring to women’s domestic duties and broadening the definition of the family. (Gareth Chaney/PA via AP)

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Thai workers dresses as pregnant women demand a paid maternity leave for up to 180 days during an International Women’s Day rally in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

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Indian women vendors await customers outside a train station on International Women’s Day in Mumbai, India, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

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A honour guard soldier gives a flower to a girl on International Women’s Day in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, March 8, 2024. International Women’s Day on March 8 is an official holiday in Russia. Per tradition, men give flowers and gifts to female relatives, friends and colleagues, even though in the past two years flowers have gotten more expensive. Marches, demonstrations and conferences are being held the world over, from Asia to Latin America and elsewhere. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

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Students march during an International Women’s Day protest in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, March 8, 2024. Spanish women are marking International Women’s Day with a full day strike and dozens of protests across the country against wage gap and gender violence.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Members of Spanish unions gather during an International Women’s Day protest in Pamplona, northern Spain on Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, center, takes a selfie with representatives from local women’s support organizations during an International Women’s Day morning tea at his official residence, the Lodge, in Canberra, Australia, Friday, March 8, 2024. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)

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French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti, center, attend a ceremony to seal the right to abortion in the French constitution, on International Women’s Day, at the Place Vendome, in Paris, France March 8, 2024. France inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion in its constitution Friday, a powerful message of support for women’s right on International Women’s Day. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool Photo via AP)

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A Lebanese woman holds placards as she attends a protest to support the Palestinian women on the International Women’s Day outside the office of a U.N. organisation, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 8, 2024. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says about 9,000 women have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the Israel-Hamas war began five months ago. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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A man passes a large protest painting against hate crime against women, reading “no more femicide” at a house wall in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on the International Women’s Day, Friday, March 8, 2024. Marches, demonstrations and conferences are being held the world over, from Asia to Latin America and elsewhere to mark International Women’s Day. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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A banner reading in Italian “We strike against patriarchal violence” is shown during a march on the occasion of International Women’s Day, in Rome, Friday, March 8, 2024. Marches, demonstrations and conferences are being held the world over, from Asia to Latin America and elsewhere to mark International Women’s Day. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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A woman holds up a sign denouncing violence against women during a march on the occasion of International Women’s Day, in Milan, Italy, Friday, March 8, 2024. Marches, demonstrations and conferences are being held the world over, from Asia to Latin America and elsewhere to mark International Women’s Day. (Marco Ottico/LaPresse via AP)

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Participants march to mark the International Women’s Day Friday, March 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

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Protesters stage a rally marking International Women’s Day in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

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A Lebanese woman holds up a placard as she shouts slogans during a protest in support of Palestinian women on the International Women’s Day outside the office of a U.N. organisation, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 8, 2024. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says about 9,000 women have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the Israel-Hamas war began five months ago. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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A girl displays posters as she stand beside her mother taking part in a rally called by socialist-feminist organisation ‘Women Democratic Front’ to mark International Women’s Day, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, March 8, 2024. The day officially recognised by the United Nations in 1977, is celebrated around the world on March 8. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

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Activists from a socialist-feminist organization display mock bodies of the women victims of honor killings and domestic violence during a rally to mark International Women’s Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, March 8, 2024. The day officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977, is celebrated around the world on March 8. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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Activists from a socialist-feminist organization perform during a rally to mark International Women’s Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, March 8, 2024. The day officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977, is celebrated around the world on March 8. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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T-shirts covered with red ink hang outside City Council building, placed by demonstrators to protest against femicide on International Women’s Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

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A demonstrator protests against femicides outside the City Council on International Women’s Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

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A honour guard soldier gives flowers to women on International Women’s Day in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, March 8, 2024. International Women’s Day on March 8 is an official holiday in Russia. Per tradition, men give flowers and gifts to female relatives, friends and colleagues, even though in the past two years flowers have gotten more expensive. Marches, demonstrations and conferences are being held the world over, from Asia to Latin America and elsewhere. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

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By ANGELA CHARLTON and JADE LE DELEY

PARIS (AP) — France inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion in its constitution Friday, in a world first and a powerful message of support to women around the globe on International Women’s Day.

A woman from Argentina, a couple from Miami and a man from Czechia were among those gathered on the polished cobblestones of Place Vendome in Paris to watch the historic event unfurl in an outdoor ceremony open the public. Women in the crowd recalled their own abortions, or lifelong battles for reproductive rights.

While abortion is a deeply divisive issue in the United States, it’s legal in nearly all of Europe and overwhelmingly supported in France, where it’s seen more as a question of public health rather than politics. French legislators approved the constitutional amendment on Monday in a 780-72 vote that was backed by many far-right lawmakers.

The Paris event was a key moment on a day focused on advancing women’s rights globally. Marches, protests and conferences are being held from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Mexico City and beyond.

When the French justice minister used a 19th-century printing press to seal the amendment in France’s Constitution, cheers filled the plaza. It ensures “the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.”

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“For too many years, women’s destinies were sealed by others,’' President Emmanuel Macron said, calling Friday’s ceremony the culmination of a ‘’long fight for freedom’’ for women to choose what to do with their bodies.

The French constitutional amendment has been hailed by women’s rights advocates around the world, including places where women struggle to access birth control or maternal health care. Macron said the move was prompted by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2022 rescinding long-held abortion rights.

Macron called for other countries to follow suit and proposed including the right to abortion in the European Union’s charter, drawing cheers from the crowd in Paris. However, such a move would likely meet stiff resistance from EU members that have tight abortion restrictions, such as Poland.

Macron’s critics questioned why he pursued the measure in a country with no obvious threat to abortion rights but where women face a multitude of other problems.

While some French women saw the step as a major win, others said that in reality not every French woman has access to abortion.

“It’s a smokescreen,” Arya Meroni, 32, said of the event.

“The government is destroying our health care system, many family planning clinics have closed,’’ she said at an annual “Feminist Night March” in Paris on the eve of International Women’s Day.

Still, for people like 44-year-old public relations director Lunise Marquis, it was a “major milestone for women’s rights.”

“We are sending a message to the world,” she said.

France has a persistently high rate of women killed by their partners and challenges remain in prosecuting sexual abuse against women by powerful celebrities and other men. French women also see lower pay and pensions — especially women who are not white.

Macron’s government said the abortion amendment was important to avoid a U.S.-like scenario for women in France, as hard-right groups are gaining ground and seeking to turn back the clock on freedoms around Europe.

Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti used a 100-kilogram (220-pound) press from 1810 to imprint the amendment in France’s 1958 Constitution.

France follows in the footsteps of the former Yugoslavia, whose 1974 constitution included the phrase: “A person is free to decide on having children.” Yugoslavia’s successor states retained similar language in their constitutions, though they did not spell out guaranteed abortion rights.

Not everyone saw the day as a cause for celebration, as angry protest marches were held in numerous countries.

The head of the Danish Trade Union Confederation, which has 1.3 million members, chafed at how differently women and men are treated in some areas.

“Unfortunately, we still see sky-high pay differences, professions dominated by one sex, a gender-segregated labor market, harassment cases that primarily affect women and a wide range of other equality problems,” Morten Skov Christensen said.

In other events Friday:

In Ireland, voters are deciding whether to change the constitution to remove passages referring to women’s domestic duties and broadening the definition of the family.

In Italy, where the country’s first female premier is in power, thousands of people marched in Rome to protest gender-based violence. The issue grabbed public attention after the particularly gruesome murder of a young woman last November, which Italian President Sergio Mattarella said Friday “consumed all of Italy in horror and pain.” Data show more than half of the 120 women murdered in Italy last year were killed by their current or former partners.

At street rallies in Seoul, participants had an eye on next month’s parliamentary elections in South Korea and expressed hope that parties would prioritize gender equality.

In Russia, where the United Nations says human rights have deteriorated since the military’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin saluted Russian women fighting in the war and those waiting at home for their loved ones who had been deployed.

Women in Afghanistan staged rare protests against harsh Taliban restrictions. The country’s rulers have banned girls and women from education above grade six and from most jobs. Females are also barred from public spaces like parks. A group of women gathered indoors in Kabul, holding up signs to hide their faces, and chanted, “No to gender apartheid” and “Afghanistan is hell for women.”

Protesters in Turkey sought to call attention to violence against women.

Indonesian demonstrators demanded adoption of the International Labor Organization’s conventions concerning gender equality and eliminating workplace violence and harassment. Labor rights groups in Thailand marched to the Government House to petition for better work conditions, and activists marching against violence in the Philippine capital were stopped by police near the presidential palace, sparking a brief scuffle.

India’s government cut the price of cooking gas cylinders by 100 rupees ($1.20) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi posting on social media that the move was “in line with our commitment to empowering women.”

The United Nations children’s agency said in a report released on International Women’s Day that more than 230 million women and girls around the world have undergone female genital mutilation. The number has increased by 30 million in the past eight years, it said.

“We’re also seeing a worrying trend that more girls are subjected to the practice at younger ages, many before their fifth birthday. That further reduces the window to intervene,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

Officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977, International Women’s Day is a national holiday in about 20 countries, including Russia, Ukraine and Afghanistan.

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Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.