[Press Release]: Alliance VITA protests fatherless ART

[Press Release]: Alliance VITA protests fatherless ART

by | June 28, 2017 | Bioethics, Medically Assisted Procreation, Press Releases

Alliance VITA takes note of the government’s reply to the French Ethics Advisory Committee’s (“CCNE”) following the latter’s convoluted and non-consensual announcement in favor of fatherless ART under certain conditions.  During Wednesday’s press conference, the government’s spokesman announced their desire “to convert the CCNE’s advice into a legislative viewpoint” and “to find the best legislative procedure”.

Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate:

“We take note of the government’s announcement to ‘elucidate the majority’s consensus’. However, this plan is contradictory to the intention to legalize, especially since a legislative process has not yet been carried out. Although the ethics committee members themselves have very conflicting opinions, they requested having an open debate, and recommended that the public be consulted on this issue. The government cannot underestimate the enormous risk of introducing another societal conflict, which threatens to create deeper divisions in the French population. Alliance VITA, as well as numerous other movements with various political and philosophical viewpoints, intends to strongly protest fatherless ART on behalf of protecting “a child’s rights” vs. “the right to have a child”. Together we can collaborate to circumvent this crucial and decisive shift, instead of veering toward the lucrative global procreation market. Ultra-liberalism disregards the rights of the weakest, since it only considers human beings as merchandise to be bought and sold. Together we are all ready to march in the streets, uniting on the broadest possible communal basis. For the honor of France, the country of universal human rights, it is our duty to stand up against the commodification of human beings.” 

Ethics Committee + ART: Convoluted and Non-consensual Announcement [Press Release]

Ethics Committee + ART: Convoluted and Non-consensual Announcement [Press Release]

by | June 27, 2017 | Bioethics, Medically Assisted Procreation, Press Releases

By accepting that one can intentionally deprive a child from his father, the French National Consultative Ethics Committee (“CCNE”) seriously undermines children’s rights and the founding principles of French bioethics. 

Caroline Roux, Helpline Center Coordinator declares:  

« We are frequently faced with women who raise their child alone, due to accidental causes or painful situations. Our whole civil society gets together and contributes by offering specific support because we are aware that a father’s absence is a challenge to be faced, one that should be acknowledged and accompanied. How can the CCNE be so far detached from reality? Fatherless ART is double punishment for children: starting from the original mistreatment of purposefully depriving them of their biological origins, plus cutting them off from any paternal relationship. Furthermore, by allowing recourse to ART without being medically justified, we are on a slippery slope towards accepting public and individual claims of “the right to have a child”, including surrogacy for men which the CCNE has refused.”

 

Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate:

“The CCNE’s non-consensual position, presented in a convoluted manner, introduces a breach of equality between infants who are purposefully deprived of a father by the ART system, and the others…It is absurd for the CCNE to speak of women’s’ suffering in order to justify the painful discrimination sustained by children. Why make a mockery of children’s rights? On what grounds do women have the right to claim a child “without a father”?  The government should not concede to this form of ART which opens the door to surrogacy. Neither children nor women can be considered as objects of ownership.   

The French President’s attitude on this subject represents a dual test for us. From a political viewpoint, does Emmanuel Macron intend to launch a new major societal debate based on claims from a tiny minority, whereas the French expect him to address other multiple priorities? From an ethical viewpoint, will he endorse artificial conception of children, who will be deliberately deprived of a father, while so many children already suffer from the lack of this important directional influence in their lives?

At Alliance VITA, we are prepared to rally, even march in the streets with French people from all different political and philosophic viewpoints, on the basis of gathering the largest possible group, while putting aside other differences, because defending children’s rights, against the idea of “the right to have a child” is  imperative for integral and humane ecology.

A state’s legitimate purpose is to protect the weakest against the strongest, and constitutes a prerequisite for democracy. If it does not protect universal individual rights, democracy is a failure: in this case, for a child to be acknowledged by paternal and maternal biological parentage”.

Preventing Abortion in Europe 

by | June 23, 2017 | Maternity, News

On June 22, 2017, Alliance VITA participated in the international seminar on « Preventing Abortion in Europe, Legal Framework and Social Policies”, which was organized by the European Centre for Law & Justice (ECLJ) in Brussels.
Every year, 4 million European women have abortions performed. There are large disparities in abortion rates between different countries. For example, Sweden, France and the UK have considerably high abortion rates, whereas in the past few years other countries such as Italy and Germany have registered a decline.  The seminar intended to identify legal, sociological and health aspects which contribute to developing an effective prevention policy, with particular focus on preventing abortions among the youth. Conferences were given by approximately 15 experts: jurists, attorneys, professors, as well as professional experienced counselors. The afternoon session focused on analyzing risk factors, and the social and human consequences of abortion, followed by several European countries sharing their experience for preventing abortion.
Caroline Roux, VITA International’s Director, and Coordinator for Alliance VITA’s Crisis and Helpline Center, presented the status of abortion prevention in France.
→ Click here to access her presentation: “Is abortion prevention possible in France?” in its entirety.

« Right to have a Child »: Assessment by the French Chancellery

by | June 23, 2017 | Uncategorized

The Department for Legal Research and Justice of the French Chancellery has published an investigative report on continually emerging situations claiming “the right to have a child” and the subsequent consequences on parentage both in France and internationally.  The study sheds light on the legal contradictions which are looming on the horizon, whilst bringing fundamental children’s rights into question.
In this study carried out from 2015 to 2017, the expression the « right to have a child” matches “requests” for a child in cases which could not be qualified as compensating for medically-confirmed sterility. It does include assisted reproductive technology (ART) for singles, for couples of the same sex, for individuals beyond the natural reproductive age, for surrogacy cases, as well as for individuals who claim a gender change on their civil registry.
« Since the end of the 80’s the issue of a doctrine for the “right to have a child” has been widely debated. As early as 1987, in a publication, one chapter was entitled “From the desire to have a child to the right to have a child” and emphasizes: “accepting the right to have a child is impossible”. Today the situation has changed. Claims are no longer filed for medially assisted reproduction, but rather for getting a child “from” some genes from the “progenitors” (but rarely the entirety). Legislation for bioethics gave incorporated jurisdictional tools into the French legal system, and thereby established guidelines for the new technologies. These were intended to treat medically authenticated cases of sterility, without advocating the “right to have a child”.
For nearly two years, the researchers at the Department for Legal Research and Justice of the Chancellery have been analyzing the various consequences which could result if the “right to a child” is recognized.  The current “fait accompli” situations result from the abuses and distortions related to conflicting discrepancies in international legislative guidelines.
In order to circumvent French law, a real business of “reproductive tourism” has been developed. According to the authors, the underlying issue claims the “right for adults to become parents”. This political claim should “be recognized as a right only if it protects against wrongdoing, but does not exacerbate the situation.” However, the legislative changes advocating the “right to have a child” is not inconsequential for the latter, since the new practices could deprive children of rights ensured by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The report reveals some especially shocking monetary details for contractual surrogacy arrangements in the USA and India. The “surrogate mother” only receives 10% of the amount paid by the commissioning mother or the “intended mother”. In the US, the contracts may include clauses which allow “the commissioning individuals to specify the lifestyle of the pregnant woman”, such as “to not apply nail polish, (…) to not participate in sports (…) to not attend funerals”.  As mentioned in an article published in Figaro in reference to this report, the contract may even specify guidelines for the young woman’s sexual life. To verify that the clauses of the contract are respected, these women are kept under surveillance. Most often in India, women are “kept in specialized clinics where a personalized diet and a strict schedule must be followed”. The contract’s numerous clauses mainly intend to ensure that no bonding takes place between the natural mother and the child, and that “once born, a pure and simple transfer takes place, without any contact with the surrogate mother”.  
This 500-page report is a significant contribution for the legal considerations in discerning the child’s best interests. It highlights the consequences that a judicial interpretation for “a right to have a child” would implicate for the child, for families, and for society.
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For a summary of the report, click here.

French Medical Academy in favor of egg freezing for non-medical purposes

by | June 23, 2017 | Bioethics, Medically Assisted Procreation

On June 19, 2017, the French National Academy of Medicine published its report in favor of extending the law for extracting and preserving one’s oocytes (eggs) to include authorization for non-medical reasons. This would allow all women to have their eggs extracted and frozen in order to postpone childbearing to a later date.  
Heretofore, the fundamental principle in France has been to allow freezing of one’s oocytes uniquely for medical reasons, such as malignant diseases when treatments impair ovarian function (such as chemotherapy or radiation treatment) or risks of premature or early menopause.
Preserving one’s oocytes is a complicated procedure. Stimulating the ovaries requires hormonal treatments and sonograms over several times a week, stimulating the ovaries, extracting a few oocytes, and then preserving them in liquid nitrogen at -198°C by a flash-freezing process known as vitrification. Due to both the physical and psychological risks inherent in this procedure, oocyte donation was originally authorized uniquely for women who had already given birth.
The report refers to a recent international study, which states « the success rate of pregnancy for a devitrified (thawed) oocyte is only 4.5 % – 12%. Therefore at least 15-20 oocytes need to be vitrified (flash-frozen), which almost always requires multiple sequences to obtain a reasonable hope of childbirth”. 
To solicit donations, following a controversial debate when the 2011 Bioethics Law was being examined, oocyte donation was authorized for women who had never given birth. “As a reward” for their efforts, they were given the opportunity to preserve some of their own eggs, for non-medical reasons. The legislative act was promulgated at the end of 2015.
According to the most recent statistics from the French Biomedicine Agency, gamete donations account for about 1400 children born every year, including approximately 200 infants from oocyte donations.
The report admits that a survey has not been carried out to calculate the exact statistics, but declares that French women wishing to preserve their eggs for a future pregnancy, travel abroad, especially “to the UK, Belgium, or Italy; many go to Spain, and more and more women go to the Check Republic where costs are lower”.
In Spain, 94% of the requests for preserving one’s eggs are age-related: 1468 vitrification procedures were performed in 2015 for non-medical reasons, including 42 from France. Some Spanish clinics have developed a booming business including offers of Assisted Reproduction Techniques (ART) which are prohibited in France, complete with advertisements via French web sites and with French-speaking staff.  In the same year, there were a total of 110 requests recorded in Belgium, and 110 in Holland.
Whilst the Bioethics Law may be revised in 2018, the Academy recommends allowing oocyte preservation to be extended for age reasons. When speaking of the natural decrease in fertility due to ageing, the academics refer to it as an “age-related pathology.” They add that the procedure must “only be offered to adult women, under certain conditions: providing comprehensive and mandatory information regarding the methods and their cost, specifying the recommended age for egg-retrieval prior to the age of 35, and that oocytes be re-implanted before age 45, mentioning the incumbent risk of failure or complications related to the procedure, and the risks of pregnancy in older women. The report does not address the funding procedure, or whether or not it should be reimbursed by the French social security insurance.     
The Academy is recommending this procedure as an alternative to egg donations for age-related uses; by mentioning risks which have nevertheless rarely been addressed in the past. “This offers an advantage for avoiding pregnancy complications due to oocyte donation from another person (higher rate of preeclampsia,intrauterine growth restriction)…”
Alliance VITA’s viewpoint :
Why such tenacity in relentlessly developing more and more medical techniques for procreation? We are astonished that professionals involved in pregnancy are not more proactive: with specific suggestions and information awareness campaigns on the risks of delaying pregnancy. Instead they are trying to attract women by promising them a hypothetical pregnancy at a later date, which is not without medical risks and is not always a successful procedure. Perplexities are raised faced with this “extreme persistence on procreating” without any medical reason whatsoever, emanating from those playing both the part of both judge and jury.