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French lawmakers have approved a bill that will enshrine the right to an abortion in the Constitution of France in a joint session of Parliament at the Palace of Versailles, Al Jazeera reports.

The bill was approved in an overwhelming 780-72 vote on Monday, and nearly the entire joint session stood in a long-standing ovation.

There were celebratory scenes across the country as women’s rights activists hailed the measure promised by President Emmanuel Macron following a rollback of abortion rights in court rulings in the United States.

The move makes France the first country in the world to offer explicit protection for terminating a pregnancy in its basic law.

Both houses of Parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate, have already adopted a bill to amend Article 34 of the constitution to specify a woman’s right to an abortion is guaranteed.

“France is at the forefront,” the head of the lower house of Parliament, Yael Braun-Pivet, said as she opened the joint meeting.

“I’m proud of this Congress, which will say that the right to get an abortion will now be part of our basic law,” she said.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal had earlier said: “We’re sending a message to all women: your body belongs to you and no one can decide for you.”