“…These examples, though limited in number, reveal the contemporary French situation with its ambivalent concern regarding the past and the foreseeable future. unrest and caused an emotional division between those who desired freedom of action and those who upheld the principles of self-discipline (5). Under the pressure from these two opposing trends, the changing legal attitude towards abortion moved slowly over a period of almost 60 years, from stern disapproval starting in 1920 to final acceptance in 1979.…”