Symposium | Women's Freedom to Control Their Bodies: A Comparative Exploration in Law

In March 2024, a landmark majority of French lawmakers voted to enshrine women's freedom to terminate pregnancy in the Constitution. This event stands in stark contrast with jurisdictions around the world that are curtailing sexual and reproductive rights.

On Friday, 6 December 2024, the Gender Studies Programme and Law School organise the second Sciences Po Symposium on Reproductive Rights, focusing on discussions in law and comparative law, to explore how the French case relates to broader global dynamics, examining lessons to be learned and limitations shaped by geographical and cultural contexts. Three panels will guide the symposium's discussions: (1) exploring diverse approaches to legalising abortion, (2) salient ideas of theoretical debates, and (3) outlining trends: comparing places.

The Symposium, headed by Helena Alviar García, full professor at the Sciences Po Law School, and Marie Mercat-Bruns, Full University Professor at the Cnam and affiliated to Sciences Po Law School, consists of three sessions:

• A first session exploring diverse approaches to legalising abortion, with Marie Mercat Bruns (Sciences Po, France), Eleonora Bottini (Université de Caen Normandie, France), and Bianca Gardella Tedeschi (Università del Piemonte Orientale, Italy)
• A second session on salient ideas of theoretical debates, with Camilla Crea (Università degli Studi del Sannio, Italy), Isabel Cristina Jaramillo Sierra (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia), and Angela Condello (Università degli Studi di Messina, Italy).
• A third session outlining trends and comparing laws, with Paola Bergallo (Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Argentina), Dorcas Goabga (Sciences Po, France), Katarzyna Sękowska-Kozłowska (Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland), and Isabela Hümmelgen (Central European University, Austria)