Manifesto of the 343


The Manifesto of the 343, was a French petition signed by 343 women "who had the courage to say, 'I've had an abortion'". It was an act of civil disobedience, since abortion was illegal in France, and by admitting publicly to having aborted, they exposed themselves to criminal prosecution. The manifesto was published in the social democratic French weekly magazine Le Nouvel Observateur on April 5, 1971. The manifesto called for the legalization of abortion and free access to contraception. It paved the way to the adoption, in December 1974-January 1975, of the "Veil law", named for Health Minister Simone Veil, that repealed the penalty for voluntarily terminating a pregnancy during the first ten weeks.

The text

The text of the manifesto was written by Simone de Beauvoir. It began :

One million women in France have abortions every year. Condemned to secrecy, they do so in dangerous conditions, while under medical supervision, this is one of the simplest procedures.
Society is silencing these millions of women. I declare that I am one of them. I declare that I have had an abortion.
Just as we demand free access to contraception, we demand the freedom to have an abortion.

Impact

It was the inspiration for a February 3, 1973, manifesto by 331 doctors declaring their support for abortion rights:

We want freedom of abortion. It is entirely the woman's decision. We reject any entity that forces her to defend herself, perpetuates an atmosphere of guilt, and allows underground abortions to persist....

The week after the manifesto appeared, the front page of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo carried a drawing attacking male politicians with the question "Qui a engrossé les 343 salopes du manifeste sur l'avortement?".. This drawing by Cabu gave the manifesto its familiar nickname, often mistaken as the original title. For Maud Gelly, doctor and author, "A caricature meant at ridiculing politicians left a macho insult to qualify these women, and that tells a lot about the anti-feminism sometimes dominating the rewriting of the history of women's struggles."
In 1971, the feminist group Choisir was founded by Gisèle Halimi, to protect the women who had signed the Manifesto. In 1972 Choisir formed itself into a clearly reformist body, and the campaign greatly influenced the passing of the law allowing contraception and abortion carried through by Simone Veil in 1974.

Notable signers