Simone Veil

Simone Veil should not be confused with Simone Weil, a French philosopher.

Simone Veil (born July 13, 1927) is a French lawyer and politician.

She is currently a member of the French Constitutional Council.

She was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France.

A Jew, she was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where she spent 13 months.

From 1974 to 1976 she was Minister of Health in the governments of prime ministers Jacques Chirac and Raymond Barre. She is remembered for pushing forward laws:

• making access to contraception easier (December 4, 1974) - the sale of contraceptives such as the contraceptive pill had been made legal in 1967;
• legalizing abortion (January 17, 1975), her hardest political fight, and the one for which she is generally remembered.

Preceded by: Emilio Colombo

President of the European Parliament 1979-1982

Followed by: Piet Dankert