In a forum, around thirty personalities are calling for the creation of leave in the event of voluntary termination of pregnancy.
- In a forum, 32 personalities call for the creation of leave dedicated to voluntary termination of pregnancy.
- To be able to have an abortion, women must “manage themselves”, either ask for an RTT or be granted sick leave which penalizes them financially.
- This specific leave would allow abortion to become a fundamental right.
In recent months, several companies, such as Carrefour or the social partners of the Syntec branch, have decided to set up days off for employees who have suffered a spontaneous termination of pregnancy, namely a miscarriage. A measure that allows patients not to be “financially penalized by the loss of salary involved in taking sick leave.” “But what about the voluntary termination of pregnancy, for which there is still no dedicated leave?”, wonder 32 personalities, including journalists, lawyers, artists and entrepreneurs, in a column published by the Sunday newspaper (JDD) on April 30.
Abortion: women wishing to have an abortion are financially penalized
They point out that women who do not wish to continue their pregnancy must “manage” to take time off and be able to have an abortion. “Generally, when we have an abortion it’s on Saturday, we rest on Sunday and we go back to work on Monday. If we want to extend a bit for psychological or physiological reasons, we manage to have sick leave, but we are penalized financially”, explained to FranceInfoEdmée Citroën, journalist and communicator, signatory of the forum.
Abortion “retains a taste of the illicit”
According to the different personalities, the course of voluntary termination of pregnancy “retains a taste of illicit” in labor law, even though it concerns one in three women. “In the collective unconscious, nearly fifty years after its legalization, abortion still resonates as a subversive act evoking unbridled sexuality or anarchic management of one’s fertility, in a society that expects women to be organized and cautious.”
Abortion “without shame or loss of salary”
According to Edmée Citroën, a leave dedicated to this medical act would allow abortion to become a fundamental right, “which is exercised, even today, clandestinely vis-à-vis the professional sphere”. She believes that this specific leave would help to collectively change the way of perceiving voluntary termination of pregnancy. “We want our daughters and granddaughters to be able to have abortions without shame or loss of pay”concluded the signatories.
