PARIS — Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, Republicans on Capitol Hill and conservative justices have regularly cited European laws barring abortion after the first trimester of pregnancy to argue for similar policy in the United States.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. both cited European abortion limits in their opinions in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case. More recently, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has called for a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks of gestation, told reporters on Capitol Hill that a first-trimester abortion limit would put the U.S. in line with other peer nations.

“Forty-seven of 50 European nations have national limits on abortion between 12 and 15 weeks,” Graham said in April after former President Donald Trump said he would leave abortion policies to the states. “This is the civilized world’s position.”

But in one of those countries, France, which bars elective abortions after 16 weeks gestational age (14 weeks fetal age), the comparison falls flat.

For one thing, France holds the distinction of being the only nation that has enshrined the right to an elective abortion in its constitution. And while French law bars elective abortions after the first trimester, that ban includes sweeping exceptions, including medical exceptions that in some cases allow women to access legal abortion through the third trimester.

In short, while French law nominally bars elective abortion after the first trimester, it also ensures that the decision about whether to terminate a pregnancy after that period lies with the doctor and the patient — not the government.

“In America, what is different as compared to France is that after [viability], the fetus is protected by the society. … In France, the fetus had no existence before the delivery,” said Jean-Marie Jouannic, an OB-GYN at Armand-Trousseau Hospital in Paris who specializes in fetal abnormalities.

“This is very, very important for us. It is a societal belief and a legislative decision,” he said.

US law

By contrast, Louisiana and Alabama both have laws on the books establishing fetal personhood, which gives an embryo rights at the moment of conception. That concept is becoming increasingly popular: 13 state legislatures have floated similar proposals this year alone, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research organization.

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