France

• April 2024 : Women’s freedom to terminate pregnancy enshrined in the Constitution

In 2024, a law enshrined in the 1958 Constitution the freedom of women to have recourse to voluntary interruption of pregnancy (IVG).
The bill was presented to the Council of Ministers on 12 December 2023 by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. On 30 January 2024, it was passed by the Members of Parliament without amendment (493 votes to 30), despite the tabling of more than 170 amendments.
On 28 February 2024, the Senators also passed the Bill unamended (267 votes in favour, 50 against and 22 abstentions).
On 4 March 2024, Parliament approved by 780 votes to 72, with 50 abstentions the bill to enshrine abortion definitively in the Constitution.
The bill includes a single article amending article 34 of the 1958 Constitution to state that "the law determines the conditions in which the freedom guaranteed to women to have recourse to a voluntary interruption of pregnancy is exercised".
In France, abortion is decriminalised and regulated since the Veil law of 17 January 1975, reinforced by the abortion law of December 1979. The right to abortion has subsequently been strengthened by a number of texts : the offence of obstructing an abortion, created in 1993 ; the 2013 Social Security Funding Act, which allows abortions to be carried out free of charge ; a 2014 law abolishing the reference to a "situation of distress" ; the law of 20 March 2017, which extended the offence of obstructing an abortion ; and finally the law of 2 March 2022, which extended the legal time limit for recourse to an abortion from 12 to 14 weeks.
Christian religious groups expressed their reticence : the Vatican had declared itself opposed to this inclusion in the Constitution. On 29 February 2024, the French Bishops’ Conference published a press release concerning the Senate’s vote in favour of including voluntary interruption of pregnancy (abortion) in the Constitution. The President of the Protestant Federation stated that he considered the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution to be "untimely" ; the Conseil national des évangéliques de France (National Council of French Evangelical Protestants, CNEF) expressed its reservations.

• May 2020 : Religion and the Covid 19 epidemic

An article by Jacqueline Lalouette takes stock of religions in France at the time of Covid 19 (Jean Jaurès Foundation).

On 18 May 2020, the President of the court of the Council of State ordered the Government to lift the general and absolute ban on assembly in places of religion and to enact in its place measures strictly proportionate to the health risks and appropriate at this beginning of "deconfinement".

• March 2020 : Facing the coronavirus epidemic

In the face of the coronavirus epidemic currently affecting most European countries, many religious groups have provided guidance on following the containment guidelines during this health crisis.

Catholicism : the Conférence des évêques de France has decreed that no Mass should be celebrated with an assembly. Funerals may be celebrated with a congregation of less than 20 people, who should be spread throughout the church ; finally, confessions should be made in places that allow a distance of one meter and not be face to face.
Islam : The Conseil français du culte musulman has called on all mosques to "suspend the organization of Friday prayers" starting next week and "until further notice". Chems-eddine Hafiz, rector, announced the closure of the Grand Mosque of Paris. The CFCM invites the faithful to do their ablutions at home, before going to the mosque. The ritual cleansing of the deceased is also suspended.
Protestantism : most Protestant churches have announced the closure of places of worship : the Eglise protestante unie de France asks to limit activities as much as possible, the Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace-Lorraine cancels all worship services, the Baptist and Adventist churches have asked to close.
Judaism : the Consistoire central israélite has announced the closure of the synagogues.
Orthodoxy : Orthodox religious services have also been suspended. (See the communiqué from Métropole de France calling for the closure of the churches.)

According to a YouGov poll published by huffingtonpost.fr, 93% of respondents approve of the containment measure, which is considered necessary to combat the pandemic.

This year, the religious feasts of the monotheisms will all take place in April (Pesah from the 8th to the 16th ; Easter around the 12th of April for Catholics and Protestants and for Orthodox on the 19th ; Ramadan around the 24th of April). On 23 March, the President of the Republic brought together by audio conference the leaders of the main religious denominations (Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Orthodox) as well as lay and Freemasonry associations, and announced that these future religious holidays would have to take place "without gathering".
The president also said that there was no question of cremation becoming widespread for those who died of Covid-19. However, the question of funeral spaces will have to be taken into account, knowing that several Muslim squares are reaching saturation point.