Bike-for-hire users in the French capital found stickers condemning abortion stuck on their vehicles on Thursday.
The incident sparked outrage from the government.
“What if you had let him live?” the stickers read.
They depict a fetus growing in the womb, a crawling baby and finally a child riding a bicycle and waving.
The group The Survivors, which presents itself as youth outraged by the suffering caused by abortion, said they had planned the action.
Authorities in Paris have reported that many bikes available for hire through the Velib bike rental system have been targeted by an unauthorized campaign against abortion.
“Disgusting and unacceptable,” Transport Minister Clement Beaune wrote on Twitter.
Gender Equality Minister Isabelle Rome was also horrified.
“Abortion is a fundamental right of women. We will not allow anyone to violate it,” she said.
Health Minister Francois Braun described the sticker campaign as shameful.
“The government … will always be on the side of women to ensure their right to choose,” he said.
In France, abortion was decriminalized in 1975.
Laws passed in France aim to make abortions safe, anonymous and free.
However, pro-abortion groups claim that women who want to terminate their pregnancies still often face prejudice and hostility.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year to overturn women’s federally guaranteed abortion rights, French President Emmanuel Macron said in March that his government would introduce a bill that would enshrine abortion rights in the country’s constitution.
However, he has not submitted such a bill yet.
According to the data of the National Statistics Institute INSEE, 220,000 abortions were registered in France in 2020 nationwide.
