[Press Release]: The French Are Still Deeply Divided on Controversial Bioethics Bill

Alliance VITA welcomes the vote of the bioethics bill by the Senate who left out the clauses provoking dissension and shattering bioethical boundary lines.

Refusing ART without any medical reason amply illustrates the divergent viewpoints about this provision which is unfair and discriminating against the children. This provision would have introduced the “right to a child” even if it meant depriving the child of a paternal bond, and possibly denying him any filiation whatsoever, if double gamete donations were allowed.

The senators maintained the ban on manufacturing animal-human chimeras and transgenic human embryos, thereby acknowledging that red lines exist and must not be violated with impunity. Respecting the integrity of the human species is at the heart of human ecology.

The clause to allow healthy babies to be aborted up until the date of birth, by using the vague and unverifiable criterion of “psychosocial distress”, was rejected. The appearance of this new criterion to allow abortion up to the moment of birth, which makes it very similar to an infanticide, has caused a great shock among prominent figures following very different political lines.

Caroline Roux, Alliance VITA’s Assistant General Delegate declares:

“This insightful revision of the bioethics bill is a most welcome piece of good news for Alliance VITA. It is only fair to reject ART without medical reason. The French are genuinely disturbed by this option which undermines the rights of the child. They are also especially mindful of the organic dangers inherent to manipulating living organisms, for example by manufacturing human-animal chimeras and genetically modified embryos. The senators are now backing this cutting-edge legislation with a bioethical standpoint that focuses on ecological, environmental and human issues.

The government must urgently hear this message instead of insisting on a controversial bill that deeply divides the public and radically shifts away from environmental challenges and human ecology. We are preparing major strategic actions, so that the MP’s do not dismantle the senators’ work.“