By voting the new legislation on numerical obstruction to abortion to ban online sites opposing abortion, the deputies seriously infringe the freedom of expression.
Alliance VITA, whose SOS Baby crisis line was mentioned by several different media sources, blames the government for censuring those who refuse to trivialize abortion. It is unfair to target specific websites: could it be a crime to inform women on alternative choices to abortion? What is truly at stake is the neutral character of information.
Caroline Roux, Coordinator of the listening service crisis center emphasizes:
“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 tells her about the benefits to which pregnant women are entitled. On the « government information site » no mention is made 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 evaluation 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 contacted by women who have been enduring these difficult consequences alone.”
Tugdual Derville, General Delegate:
“Above all, we are blaming the government for the twofold misinformation they provide to the women who consult their web site. Firstly the catch phrase about “the right to control one’s own body” is not even remotely impartial, and secondly the denial of any long term psychological suffering for women following an abortion is a deliberate deception which must be stopped.
« It is incredibly outrageous to declare a state of legislative emergency for a subject requiring discernment, recoil, and discussion and it is completely irresponsible to attack our listening services. For the past 20 years, it has provided a public service that the public authorities abandoned. Ever since French Health Minister Mrs. Rossignol launched this controversy, our website has been mentioned numerous times by the media. However, no one from Mrs. Rossignol’s services has ever called us to let us know which information was considered “offensive” or to investigate on our “field” experience on this subject. Our request for an appointment with the minister still remains unanswered. What we urgently need is to start a peaceful and unbiased discussion for a genuine policy focused on preventing abortion, particularly for women facing unexpected pregnancies.”
On November 29, 2017 Alliance VITA launched, throughout the country, an information campaign to reduce abortion. This campaign, investigated on men’s opinions on abortion. The objective was to clear up persistent misunderstandings on sexuality, contraception and pregnancy. These misconceptions are the source of many abortions that women reluctantly undergo, and which could be avoided:
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