“For women there are no words, it is so important. Finally our voices have been heard. For so many centuries we were not heard,” spectator Hélène told The Local, adding that she remembers the day in 1975 that abortion became legal in France.

France now becames the first country in the world to explicitly protect the right to abortion in its constitution, after Senators and MPs voted in favour in a landslide result.

The ceremony to formally change the constitution – involving a 200-year-old gold-coloured press and a wax seal – was held in public in Paris on International Women’s Day.

The spectators fell silent as justice minister Éric Dupond-Moretti, manually spun the centuries-old press in order to create an official seal, with the symbol of Marianne on one side, and on the other the words “in the name of the French people”.

Moments later, the president took the podium, taking the time to remember trailblazing feminists and promising that “the progress of women’s rights is the progress of mankind”.

Catherine Ringer concluding with La Marseillaise, notably adding a ‘citoyennes’ after “Aux armes, citoyens” pic.twitter.com/gO7Rrucl7b

— Genevieve Mansfield (@gen_mansfield) March 8, 2024

Wiping her glasses, Hélène told The Local: “I came here today in person because I am old enough to remember when the right to abortion first became legal in France, and ever since then, I have been anxious to see it put into our constitution.”

“Vive la liberté. Women have fought for this, some have even died for this. It is good to be here in person, and there are some men here too. But for women, this is truly, truly crucial. On an international level, it shows that we have liberty in France and we are pushing forward.”

While abortion has been legal in France since 1975, the constitutional protection will make it more challenging for any future governments to undo the right.

François, aged 70, was 21-years-old when the ‘Veil law’ went into effect, and remembered the celebrations at the time.

He said: “I remember the fight for the right for abortion, and I remember the day the law passed. This ceremony is a bit less intense than that time when abortion was totally illegal and we did not even know if it would go through under Simone Veil.

“But today, an important message is being sent out to the rest of the world.

“Recently, France has been regressing when it comes to protecting rights. For once, we are showing the world real, strong progress. It’s also a message to the far-right, which is gaining in popularity.

“I’m not sure if the rest of Europe will follow, it is still important that we in France are doing this and defending this right. It is important,” he said.

The French government has said that its next goal will be to push for better safeguards for abortion under EU law. 

During his speech, Macron promised that France would “fight this battle on our continent, where reactionary forces seek to attack women’s rights, just before going on to attack the rights of minorities, of all the oppressed, of all freedoms”.

“Today is not the end of the story. It’s the start of a fight,” Macron said. In Europe, “nothing is set in stone any longer and everything has to be defended,” he said, alluding to “reactionary forces” in other parts of the continent.

“This is why I wish for this guaranteed freedom to resort to an abortion to be inscribed in the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.”

For 27-year-old Irene this was especially pertinent. She said: “I am Italian and I live in Italy. Our government is far-right. Who knows if tomorrow we become like Poland? We have seen what is happening with far-right movements around Europe. Nothing…no rights we have acquired before last forever.”

Irene, who is on holiday visiting a friend, decided to attend the ceremony after seeing President Macron’s Instagram post about it. “I said to myself, I’ll go. I’m going to be in Paris on the 8th of March.

“It’s so important to be here because I am a woman. I know I was born in quite a happy time for women, but nothing guarantees our rights will be there forever. This step – making abortion a constitutional right – makes it difficult to be changed. It’s an important step for us as women because our freedom is written into the constitution.

“To see France take this step – making it a right – matters (…) of course I would hope for something like this to happen in Italy, but I think that would be idealistic,” she said.

Behind Irene, in the middle of the crowd, there was a group of two dozen 11-year-olds and their teachers.

“We are technically not supposed to be here today,” a history teacher from Trappes told The Local, not wanting to share her name publicly, out of concern that the excursion was not exactly official.

“Our plan was to go to the Louvre with the pupils, so they could see the artistic masterpieces. It was a last-minute decision to come. We said to ourselves – it would be an incredible opportunity for the students to see and hear the President speak.

“For us personally, we are women, so it is important. But for the students, it’s the first time that they have ever seen the president speak, and on top of that they are seeing him make official the right to abortion in the constitution. 

“We feel like they understand what’s going on, but they are still a little young. They won’t learn about abortion for another two years, so we will have to do spend some time in class explaining this after we get back later.

“It was really an unmissable occasion to be here for this ceremony. It’s so important to all women and for everyone to have the liberty to choose. It’s also a symbol to the rest of the world.

“Especially at a time when that right is being rolled back in other countries, this is a moment for unity in France,” she said.