France is preparing to become the first country in the world to put the right to abortion in its constitution.
On Monday, parliamentarians from the upper and lower chambers will meet in special session in the Palace of Versailles, summoned by President Emmanuel Macron.
If, as expected, they vote for the government's motion by a three-fifths majority, then the country's 1958 constitution will be revised to enshrine women's "guaranteed freedom" to abort.
It will be the 25th amendment to the Fifth Republic's founding document, and the first since 2008.
Spurred by the end of federal protection of abortion rights in the US two years ago, supporters are exuberant over the revision - which they see as insurance against any similar backpedalling in France.
Polls show around 85% of the French public support the reform. Resistance from right-wingers in parliament has failed to materialize.
On 1 February French protestors voiced their support for abortion rights from a balcony during a debate on a draft law on the constitutionalisation of the right to abortion at the Senate in Paris
Opposition, instead, has largely focused on the politics of the move: President Macron is accused of debasing the constitution for electoral ends.
Critics say the revision is not necessarily wrong in itself, but unnecessary - and they see a weakened president trying to use the cause to boost his left-wing credentials and to flush out opposition to abortion.
Political
President Macron lacks a majority in the National Assembly and faces an uphill task getting any reforms into law.
His January reshuffle of his government meanwhile slanted it to the right.
Following controversial laws last year on pension reform and immigration, this has given the jitters to left-leaning components of his Renaissance party - for whom the abortion revision is now a welcome re-balancing.
"It is a big relief to be able to proclaim our unity again on an issue over which the whole of the party can agree. There have been a lot of tensions inside Renaissance, but now we can remind ourselves of the values we share," said one left-wing member of the party who asked not to be identified.
