With 267 votes in favor and 50 against, the Sénat voted in favor of constitutionalizing abortion. Wednesday's vote came after the Assemblée Nationale, overwhelmingly approved the proposal in January. The measure now goes before a joint session of Parliament for its expected approval by a three-fifths majority next week.

"[The right to abortion] is no longer a battle, now it's a victory, it's an extraordinary message that France has just sent," said Green Senator Mélanie Vogel. "To the French women and men who massively called for the constitutionalization of abortion, to all the women who have lived through the horror of the criminalization of abortion, to all the women who never want to experience it."