- The law of July 31, 1920 prohibits contraceptive methods and any advertising of means to limit births.
- Abortion is illegal in France. Women who practice voluntary termination of pregnancy are liable to criminal prosecution, which can go as far as a prison sentence.
- The birth control pill was developed in the 1950s in the United States.
- At the same time, the Family Planning Movement was founded.
- The issue of legalizing contraception was first addressed by François Mitterrand during his campaign for the 1965 presidential elections.
December 19, 1967
Characters
Lucien Neuwirth
Procedure
Lucien Neuwirth, a Gaullist deputy, is at the origin of the text of the law authorizing the use of contraceptives, such as the pill. The debates between the deputies are dense. They mainly wonder about the limits of contraceptive prescriptions. Two camps stand out. The first are in favor of free prescription, the others want the prescription to be framed as was therapeutic abortion at the time:three medical opinions are necessary.
On December 19, 1967, the law was adopted by the National Assembly and the text took the name of its initiator:it was the Neuwirth law. Contraception is legal but is not reimbursed by Social Security.
Consequences
- The Neuwirth law does not really apply:we have to wait for the law of December 4, 1974. The latter really liberalizes contraceptive methods and sets up the reimbursement of prescriptions by Social Security.
- The Neuwirth law excludes voluntary terminations of pregnancy:it was not until the promulgation of the Veil law in 1975 to decriminalize abortion.