Marie-Claire Chevalier

Marie-Claire Chevalier (12 July 1955 – 23 January 2022) was a French abortion rights activist. She was defended in the Bobigny trial [fr] by Gisèle Halimi in 1972. The victory in this trial was key for the legalization of abortion in France and the Veil Act.

Marie-Claire Chevalier
Born	(1955-07-12)12 July 1955 Meung-sur-Loire, France
Died	23 January 2022(2022-01-23) (aged 66) Orléans, France
Occupation	Activist

Biography

Chevalier was born in Meung-sur-Loire on 12 July 1955.^[1][2] She grew up in a working-class family alongside her mother and two sisters in Paris unité urbaine [fr].^[3] At the age of 16, she was raped by an 18-year-old male classmate who attended the same secondary school as her.^[4] She then found herself pregnant and asked her mother, Michèle Chevalier, to help her find a means of abortion.^[2] She received an abortion underground, as it was illegal in France at the time, but she suffered from hemorrhaging and required hospitalization.^[5]

Arrested for a case of grand theft auto unrelated to the rape, Chevalier's rapist revealed her abortion as a means to escape prosecution and obtain his release.^[4] Shortly thereafter, Chevalier was arrested and imprisoned.^[6] She was defended in the Bobigny trial by Gisèle Halimi, alongside four other women.^[2] She was released on 11 October 1972 after a trial behind closed doors, due to her status as a minor.^[7] The trial was described as a "political affair" by Halimi and Simone de Beauvoir.^[2] In her 1973 book, Le procès de Bobigny, Halimi defended Chevalier's decision to abort and said it was a "citizen act of civic disobedience".^[5] The impact of the verdict led to the passing of the Veil Act in January 1975, which legalized abortion in France.^[6]

After the trial and verdict, Chevalier continued to suffer from the traumatic event and attempted suicide. However, she maintained some anonymity and worked as a nurse's aide near Orléans.^[3] In 1988, she gave birth to a daughter,^[5] and years later, became a grandmother.^[7]

In 2006, she commented on Halimi's book, Le procès de Bobigny, mentioning that the Veil Act was "a little thanks to me that it was voted, it was a bit mine".^[5] The year before, a blue metal footbridge was named in her honor in Bobigny in front of the commune's courthouse,^[8][9] but it was closed in 2021.^[10]

Chevalier died from brain cancer at a hospital in Orleans on 23 January 2022 at the age of 66.^[1][11]

References

1. Seelye, Katharine Q.; Méheut, Constant (10 February 2022). "Marie-Claire Chevalier, Catalyst for French Abortion Law, Dies at 66". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
2. "Marie-Claire Chevalier, défendue par Gisèle Halimi au procès de Bobigny après un avortement illégal, est décédée". France 3 Centre (in French). Loiret. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
3. "Qu'est-elle devenue ?". Le Parisien (in French). 9 November 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
4. Ferney, Jeanne (4 June 2019). ""Hors la loi", au nom de Marie-Claire". La Croix (in French). Paris. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
5. Bariéty, Aude (20 July 2018). "Aux origines de la loi Veil, l'avortement clandestin de Marie-Claire Chevalier". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
6. Diatkine, Anne (3 July 2019). "Marie-Claire Chevalier, indélébile". Libération (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
7. Richet, Gwendoline (3 July 2021). "AFFAIRE OUBLIÉES. L'affaire Marie-Claire Chevalier, une icône effacée de l'avant-loi Veil". Closer (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
8. "Marie-Claire, trente ans après". L'Humanité (in French). 17 January 2005. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
9. "Une "passerelle Marie-Claire" inaugurée à Bobigny". Le Parisien (in French). Seine-Saint-Denis. 15 January 2005. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
10. Revenu, Nathalie (23 December 2021). "Bobigny: la passerelle Marie-Claire fermée "pour danger grave"". Le Parisien (in French). Seine-Saint-Denis. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
11. Hochberg, Juliette (25 January 2022). "Le jour où Marie-Claire, lycéenne jugée pour avoir avorté après un viol, est relaxée". Marie Claire (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2022.