Tribute to Gisèle Halimi: Emmanuel Macron expected on abortion, despite the controversy
Would Gisèle Halimi have appreciated thatwe pay tribute to him this Wednesday, March 8 ? The question is futile, but it tears his family apart and opposes the executive to the associative milieu, while Emmanuel Macron must speak at a ceremony organized at 4 p.m. at the Paris Courthouse.
On the occasion of International Women’s Rights Day, the President of the Republic will pay tribute to this emblematic activist of many fights in the second half of the 20th century, two and a half years after her death, and could speak on the constitutionalization of abortion, whose legalization was one of the fights of the feminist lawyer.
His eldest son, Jean-Yves Halimi, will speak before the Head of State during the ceremony organized this Wednesday afternoon. But another of his sons, the journalist Serge Halimi, will not participatedeploring that she intervenes “while the country is mobilized against an extremely unfair pension reform”, in particular for women, whom his mother would have fought against.
A plan for gender equality presented
Violaine Lucas, president of the association “Choosing the cause of women” co-founded by Gisèle Halimi in 1971, will not be there either. She denounces a “political instrumentalization”, while several demonstrations are organized in France during this March 8 against the disputed pension reform.
“This trial that is done engages only its authors”, replied an adviser to Emmanuel Macron. “The President of the Republic has chosen to honor a woman of fighter, a pioneer of feminism”, underlined Tuesday the Minister Delegate for Equality between Women and Men, Isabelle Rome. She felt that Gisèle Halimi “would have appreciated” the plan for this equality that she also presents on the occasion of March 8.
Among the hundred or so planned measures are the doubling of the number of Women’s Houses, support structures for victims of violence, but also the creation of “specialized poles” in domestic violence within the courts.
Macron “will certainly mention” abortion
The Élysée also tried to reassure those who fear that Wednesday’s tribute will bury Gisèle Halimi’s hopes of entering the Pantheon. The study of the file is still “in progress”, said this adviser.
In his speech, Emmanuel Macron will evoke “a figure who knew how to bring to life the ideals inherited from the Enlightenment”, and in particular his fights “against colonization and the war in Algeria”, “against the death penalty” or even for “the legalization of abortion.
“The question of abortion is inseparable from Gisèle Halimi”, says one in the entourage of Emmanuel Macron. The latter “will certainly mention it” on Wednesday, we add. He could decide on the follow-up to be given to the proposal to enshrine access to abortion in the Constitution. The Elysian adviser suggested being “very attentive to what the president will say” on this subject.
