Simone Veil, the woman credited with legalizing abortion in France, will be buried next to some of the greatest literary figures, scientists and philosophers in the world this summer.
Veil, an abortion advocate and Holocaust survivor, died on June 30 at age 89.
For her work advocating for the deaths of unborn babies, Veil’s body will be buried in the Paris Pantheon alongside Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie and other greats – the highest honor accorded to individuals in France, Crux Now reports.
Veil worked to legalize abortion in France through her role as health minister, and the 1975 law allowing the abortion of unborn babies, “Loi Veil,” is named after her.
The Veil Law didn’t legalize all abortion in France; rather, it approved abortion through the first trimester in cases where the mother’s health was at risk. In those situations, an abortion required the approval of two physicians who believed that carrying the child to term would result in serious injury to the mother or severe disability to the child. Since then, French lawmakers have changed the law, and abortion now is legal for any reason through the 12th week of pregnancy.
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Veil defended abortion but not to the extent that abortion activists do today.
“Abortion should stay an exception, the last resort for desperate situations,” she said when the law passed. “How, you may ask, can we tolerate it without its losing the character of an exception – without it seeming as though society encourages it?”
Abortion is not rare or exceptional in France, despite what Veil said. About 200,000 unborn babies are aborted every year in the country.
Here’s more from Crux:
President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to her invincible spirit and afterward tweeted “May her example inspire our compatriots.”
In a statement, Macron said Veil’s life was an exemplary inspiration, underscoring her care for the most vulnerable members of society.
“Her uncompromising humanism, wrought by the horror of the camps, made her the constant ally of the weakest, and the resolute enemy of any political compromise with the extreme right,” the statement read.
Yet, Veil’s abortion advocacy denied rights to the weakest and most vulnerable of all in society – the unborn. As a result of her work, millions of babies in France have had their rights and lives destroyed. And this is what is being hailed as an honorable “contribution” to her country.
