At a moment when the world seems very dark, with wars raging in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and with authoritarian leaders insisting that women’s natural role is to reproduce the family, the race and the nation, the passage of the French constitutional amendment protecting freedom of access to abortion brings a ray of hope. The long struggle to win recognition of the need for women to control their own bodies has resulted, if not in complete victory, at least in a major step forward.