As announced, French socialist deputies have proposed a new legislation to broaden the scope of charges for the numerical obstruction to “voluntary interruption of pregnancy” against websites accused of giving information to dissuade a woman from having an abortion.
Filed on October 13, 2016 this legal proposal is intended to compensate for the government’s failure to force through an amendment in the Equality and Citizenship law. This new legislation contains only one article and it uses the same text verbatim as was used in the amendment.
In the explanatory notes, it is indicated that this law aims to crack down on some websites which « prevent surfers from obtaining reliable and unbiased information.” Alliance VITA whose crisis center SOS Baby (www.sosbebe.org) was cited by the government, denounces how the government is attempting to gag and censure those who do not want to trivialize abortion, by targeting sites informing women on abortion alternatives.
Caroline Roux, Assistant Chief Delegate and Coordinator of the Alliance VITA listening services declares:
« It’s stupefying to see the dog-headed obstinacy of this government that the social deputies are now endorsing. For the past 15 years, the quality of information on abortion published by public authorities has truly degraded. Currently when a pregnant woman consults for an abortion, the government no longer informs her of the benefits to which pregnant women are entitled. On its « official information site » the government makes no mention of this whatsoever. Additionally, on this same site, an alleged expert claims that after an abortion there are no long-term psychological side effects. This is in complete contradiction with our experience concerning what some women live through and with the results of the IFOP survey “The French and Abortion” published at the end of September 2016. The High Authority on Healthcare finds it is regrettable to see such a lack of clarity on this point. An overwhelming majority of women want a genuine prevention policy for abortion. Therefore, it is irresponsible to hide the reality of such an act which is anything but trivial, since in every case the destiny of a human life is at stake. We are often called upon to accompany these women who have been enduring these difficult consequences alone.”
Alliance VITA has launched a petition against this censure by the government, and in favor of promoting better information on financial aid and social benefits for pregnant women.
September 2016 IFOP Survey Results: The French and Abortion.
