New abortion bill would ease rules on parental consent for minors

PARIS - A new bill that would allow minors to have an abortion without parental consent and extend the cutoff for legally terminating pregnancy was unveiled Wednesday in the French Cabinet.

The bill's author, Socialist minister Martine Aubry, has long sought to bring France's abortion laws into line with its European neighbors, most of which have far more liberal abortion legislation.

The bill would extend the legal limit for abortions from 10 to 12 weeks. Pregnancies can currently only be terminated after 10 weeks for ''therapeutic'' reasons, including a threat to the mother's life or birth defects in the fetus.

The changes would reduce the number of women in France who are forced to make trips abroad to have abortions past the 10-week limit. About 5,000 women travel to Belgium, Holland and Britain each year for the procedure.

Dr. Elisabeth Aubeny, a gynecologist who directed the Broussais Hospital's abortion clinic for 13 years, said women who choose abortions after 10 weeks are often the most disadvantaged, including rape victims, teen-age girls in denial and uneducated women who didn't realize they were pregnant.

''Women don't choose late-term abortions for their own pleasure,'' she said Wednesday. ''It's a psychological trauma.''

The bill also would allow girls under 18 to have abortions without parental consent, and authorize an unrelated adult to help them through the process.

The bill requires approval by both houses of the legislature, the National Assembly and the Senate, where it faces opposition. The proposed changes have sparked controversy, particularly among conservatives, and President Jacques Chirac's Rally For the Republic party has said it will seek modifications.

Chirac said Wednesday that extending the legal limit for abortion past 10 weeks was ''acceptable,'' but he questioned allowing minors to undergo abortions without parental consent.

''There are many dire situations where a young girl cannot ask for her parents' permission,'' Chirac said. ''Nonetheless, the exception should not become the rule.''

But Aubeny said the parental consent law forces many minors to pay a high price for choosing abortion. Minors from traditional North African families are sometimes punished so severely they are driven to suicide, she said.

Aubry also announced plans to end a ban on abortion advertising and information campaigns, saying it has hampered dissemination of information about birth control and legal abortions.

On Thursday, the National Assembly is expected to begin debate Thursday on an equally sticky issue: the distribution of the morning-after pill in junior and senior high schools.

Last year, Deputy Education Minister Segolene Royal authorized school nurses to give out the Norlevo pill, which prevents pregnancy by blocking the implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus.

The Council of State, which is responsible for interpreting rules and regulations, later struck down Royal's decision.

About 10,000 minors become pregnant each year in France, 6,000 of whom chose to have abortions. About 220,000 abortions are performed in France each year.

Norlevo is currently available in French pharmacies and can be purchased without a doctor's prescription for about $8.

''You still have to ask the pharmacist for it, just the way you have to ask for aspirin, but I see the day when it will be put out on the shelves next to the tampons and sanitary napkins,'' Aubeny said.