The French parliament on Monday voted to anchor the right to abortion in the country's constitution, making France the first country in the world to offer explicit protection for terminating a pregnancy in its basic law.

A congress of both houses of parliament, gathered in a special chamber at the Palace of Versailles, easily found the three-fifths supermajority needed for the change, with 780 in favour and 72 lawmakers voting against.

Deputies applauded the change with a standing ovation.

President Emmanuel Macron described the move as "French pride" that had sent a "universal message," with a special public ceremony planned to celebrate the move on International Women's Day on March 8.

The Eiffel Tower was lit up in celebration after the change was passed with the slogan "My Body My Choice."

"This is a fundamental step... A step that will go down in history," Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told the lawmakers as he urged them to pass the legislation.

He said they owed "a moral debt" toward all women who suffered before the legalisation of abortion.

But he said the freedom to abort remained "in danger" worldwide, with our "freedoms in essence threatened... at the mercy of decision makers."

"In one generation, one year, one week, you can go from one thing to the opposite," he said, referring to rights reversals in the United States, Hungary and Poland.

Such joint parliamentary sessions are extremely rare in France and called only for momentous occasions such as constitutional changes, the last of which was made in 2008. (AFP)