![[Press Release] Alliance VITA Calls For Postponing the French Bioethics Bill](https://www.alliancevita.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Bioethique-1080x675.jpg)
by Alliance VITA | July 3, 2020 | Bioethics Law, Press Releases
Following the announcement by the French National Assembly that the legislative process on the bioethics bill was suspended, Alliance VITA denounces the serious transgressions that the special committee has added during its second reading.
French MPs with the most transgressive viewpoints were able to persuade the bioethics committee to extend PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis) to detect chromosomal abnormalities such as Down’s syndrome and to adopt the “ROPA” procedure that the government had thus far opposed. ROPA, an acronym for “Reception of Oocytes from the Partner”, is a procedure allowing two women to “share motherhood”, one woman contributing her oocytes and the other woman contributing her uterus. This procedure, which already cuts the child off from a father, breaks up motherhood into pieces, muddles filiation and will increasingly confuse any child born from such manipulations.
In addition, controversial provisions received governmental endorsement and have been reintegrated, such as:
- producing human-animal chimeras (human embryo stem cells mixed with animal embryos);
- legalizing the creation of transgenic embryos;
- authorizing the use of “saviour babies” which presupposes to implement a double screening to select healthy and compatible embryos in order to give birth to a child and afterwards use his cells to heal a sick sibling,
- abandoning the criterion of medically diagnosed infertility, to allow instead medically assisted procreation to all women, reimbursed by Social Security, thus permitting the birth of children deprived of their father, in a complete upending of parentage principles.
Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate voices his opposition:
“Without any control from the executive authority, these lamentable transgressions are hi-jacking the nation’s medical resources and public finances, without any precautionary principle, threatening unpredictable consequences on future generations. The debate on the present bioethical law must be postponed, instead of yielding to ideological pressure from a small minority. The political priority must focus on addressing the urgent economic, social and health issues of this pandemic, which we have yet to overcome. The challenge is to provide genuine protection for our most vulnerable citizens, especially the elderly, the disabled and the children.“
by Alliance VITA | June 18, 2020 | Bioethics Law, News
Together with the collective group “March for the Children”, Alliance VITA participated in an emergency press conference on June 18, 2020 in front of the French Health Ministry to denounce the government’s obstinate attempt to push through the bioethics bill in an extraordinary parliamentary session to be held in July.
Caroline Roux, Alliance VITA’s Assistant General Delegate declared:
”We are here to denounce the government’s obstinacy to push through the highly controversial bioethics bill by adding it to the parliament’s agenda in July’s extraordinary session. Considering the bioethics bill as a national priority when we are still recovering from a crippling health crisis is diametrically opposed to what this country urgently needs.
We can attest that the crisis had a serious impact on the most vulnerable
This crisis was an intense period for Alliance VITA with calls to our listening services more than doubling: assisting pregnant women in grievously precarious conditions, and providing support to the elderly and those facing illness, disability, loneliness, end of life and bereavement.
The confinement period revealed worries about unemployment, the need for a social assistance particularly for people in a precarious situation, and for family ties.
Along with many of our fellow citizens, we praise the dedication of healthcare workers; but we also lament the flaws and deficiencies of our healthcare system, which is crying out for reform.
During this period we have all become more aware of our vulnerability, as one of life’s inherent conditions, both for human beings and for the environment. We are now presented with an opportunity to implement a responsible ecosystem which is first and foremost committed to protecting human nature. The priorities for France need to be redefined to focus on serving the common good.
This bioethics law could put future generations at risk
- It’s a headlong plunge towards increasingly artificial procreation techniques, which questions children’s rights and parent-child relationships.
- Pressure is mounting for future generations to use selective measures, with the proliferation of prenatal diagnosis tests, which may lead to genetic discrimination and further ostracize those with disabilities.
- This bill irreversibly crosses the red line on human genetic modifications, by opening the door to genetically modified embryos and creating chimeras mixing animal and human cell lines.
Considering the virulence and the uncertainties still surrounding this virus, which paralyzed the entire planet: it would appear arrogant and alarmingly foolish to play ‘god’ with genetics.
We appeal to our government and our parliament to demonstrate their sense of duty and responsibility. They cannot act innocuously and pretend that nothing has changed. We have entered a new era where the world is more vulnerable.
There are urgent economic, social and health issues to be addressed this summer.
Priorities should be respected, and parliament should be granted an adequate time allowance to work on reforms, which are vital for French citizens.
This is why we call for this bioethics bill to be withdrawn. “
by Alliance VITA | June 16, 2020 | Bioethics Law, Press Releases
Alliance VITA denounces the recent governmental gambit aimed at pushing through the highly controversial Bioethics bill in France. Along with “March for the Children”, Alliance VITA calls for action to have the bill withdrawn from the extraordinary parliamentary session.
On June 16th, the French government published a decree convening Parliament to a special session on July 1, 2020, to continue examining various legislative texts, including the Bioethics bill. A recent IFOP survey carried out by “March for the Children” revealed that over 70% of the French prefer to have the bill suspended or withdrawn, and focus primarily on managing the socio-economic emergencies generated by the COVID-19 crisis.
Caroline Roux, Alliance VITA’s Assistant General Delegate asserts:
“By convoking parliament to an extraordinary session to examine the bill, the government is yielding to the ideological pressure of a small minority. Only two days after French President Macron addressed the nation with promises ‘to rebuild an economy that is strong, ecological, sovereign and unified’, the government immediately turns its back on the real needs and expectations of its’ citizens, just to push through a bill on this highly controversial issue. The government cannot act as if nothing had happened. The world before this coronavirus crisis and after cannot be the same. The French rightly seek a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s priorities to better serve the best interest of all its’ citizens. For the majority of French citizens (62%), the push to re-examine this particular bill in an extraordinary session is perceived as an electoral or diversionary tactic related to the COVID-19 health and socio-economic crisis. The overwhelming majority is more concerned about pressing issues such as employment, purchasing power, environmental protection, etc. Therefore, Alliance VITA is calling for the Bioethics bill discussions to be withdrawn from the upcoming parliamentary discussions. “
by Alliance VITA | June 6, 2020 | Abortion, Coronavirus, News
Following the extended deadlines for having drug-induced abortions at home from 5 to 7 weeks of pregnancy, Alliance VITA, is sounding the alarm to protect human dignity.
Apparently the number of consultations and abortions has declined during the two-month confinement period. Nonetheless, does this constitute a “decline in guaranteeing women’s free choice to abort” as Family Planning claims? What a strange dialectical shortcut, rather a provocation, which hides a different reality.
Under pressure from activist groups, the new French Health Minister spoke of “an alarming drop in the number of abortions“, without providing any confirmation by quantitative analysis or proof that it is difficult to abort.
The “drop” in abortion numbers, which has yet to be confirmed, may also indicate that some women prefer to keep their baby, even in the case of an unplanned pregnancy during the COVID-19 infection. It is a fact that the pandemic and its’ risks may change one’s outlook on life.
In fact, pregnant women in confinement were much more concerned about having access to social services rather than to medical services (especially since abortion had already been designated as “emergency care”). This was demonstrated by the tedious work accomplished by Alliance VITA to provide pregnant women with a list of support centers that were still working, especially for victims of domestic violence, and for finding emergency shelters.
This is the context in which Alliance VITA challenged the State Council on the April 15th decree established by the Health and Solidarity Minister because the measures it contains put women at unreasonable risks. This decree extended the deadlines for having a drug-induced abortion at home from 5 to 7 weeks of pregnancy during the COVID-19 health emergency. In France, drug-induced abortions may be legally carried out at home until 5 weeks of pregnancy and, in hospital, until 7 weeks. Beyond these time limits, only surgical abortions can be performed.
Wrongly described as being less traumatic, drug-induced or “medical” abortions have both physical and psychological risks. The procedure involves taking two different drugs. First the woman takes Mifegyne® in the presence of a doctor or midwife, followed by misoprostol 24 to 48 hours later to expel the fetus. The latter is either taken at the hospital or possibly at home prior to 5 weeks of pregnancy.
What some women experience when they see the fetus expelled can leave a lasting memory. It is particularly difficult when it takes place at home. It is not uncommon for women to hesitate to take the second tablets.
Furthermore, beyond 5 weeks of pregnancy, the drug protocols are very explicit, due to increased risks, which explains why hospitalization is normally required. The more advanced the pregnancy, the more severe the pain, accompanied by an increased risk for heavier bleeding and hemorrhaging. A 2016 study on pain by “INSERM”, (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research) reported that one in four women experienced “very intense” pain on the third day post-abortion and had been worried about the bleeding provoked by the drugs. Another reason for contesting the decree is that abortion protocols beyond 5 weeks of pregnancy have been modified compared to those practiced in healthcare establishments. In particular the decree recommends for the woman to double the usual recommended dose of misoprotol, (off-label prescribing), although such doses are explicitly contraindicated in the 2018 guidelines for good clinical practice.
Forsaking women to solitude
The COVID-19 pandemic should not be exploited as a pretext to undermine women’s health and safety by increasingly trivializing abortion. Promoting drug-induced abortions at home beyond the usual statutory limits, while being confined, is violent: women are left alone and isolated. Another aggravating factor is that the decree also specifies that compulsory medical consultations can be carried out by video, usually by telephone. Afterwards the drugs prescribed for the abortion are dispensed by the pharmacy, directly to the woman; whereas previously, these drugs were only dispensed by a doctor or a midwife. Therefore, pharmacists are put on the front line, without any specific training, ordered to dispense medication, in some cases without medical marketing approval, thereby implicating their personal responsibility, especially in regard to young minors.
These new provisions reinforce the idea that the decision to carry out an abortion is innocuous. They disregard the violence of an act in which – we mustn’t forget – life is at stake.
Even when the confinement period ended, and abortion procedures were readily available at health facilities, on May 22, the State Council’s ruling prolonged the decree, thereby rejecting Alliance VITA’s request for suspending these measures.
Abortion is not inevitable
We cannot reconcile ourselves with family planning’s discourse of “an emergency takes precedence over reducing risks”. The argumentation of our request regarding the abuse of power for this decree is still being examined. The decree’s measures put pregnant women at a disproportionate risk instead of offering a better assistance to those who choose to continue their pregnancy and who want to avoid abortion.
The real health emergency is for pregnant women to have the support they need, to be kept safe, and to have the necessary assistance should problems arise. It is also essential to protect women from all types of violence. Among these acts of violence, it is sad to see an increasing pressure either from men or from near relatives who try to push women to abort.
The greatest affliction for pregnant women in 2020 is to be forced to abort, reluctantly, as if abortion was inevitable.
by Alliance VITA | May 29, 2020 | Abortion, Coronavirus, News
On May 22, the French State Council voted to prolong the recent decree, which extends access to drug-induced abortions at home. The April 14, 2020 decree was originally enacted as part of the national emergency health measures taken to fight the Coronavirus pandemic.
Alliance VITA filed a suspensive proceeding to denounce the French Health Minister for abuse of power and for putting women’s health at risk. The investigation for abuse of power is currently ongoing, as a separate issue.
Indeed, on the pretext of a national health emergency, the Health Minister extended the criteria for allowing drug-induced abortions at home, implementing measures, which involve serious risks for women:
- medical consultations to request an abortion can be carried out by video, thus leaving the women more isolated, which can be especially difficult during the confinement period;
- deadlines for having a drug-induced abortion at home are extended from 5 to 7 weeks of pregnancy, although it is well-known that abortions carried out at later gestational ages cause more severe pain, with an increased risk for heavier bleeding and hemorrhaging;
- drug protocols for abortions over 5 weeks of pregnancy have been modified, specifically by doubling the usual recommended dose of misoprostol although such doses are explicitly contraindicated in the 2018 guidelines for good clinical practice;
- women can receive abortion pills directly from the pharmacists, who find themselves on the front line, without any specific training, especially unprepared for dealing with young minors.
Caroline Roux, Alliance VITA’s Assistant General Delegate and Coordinator of Listening Services asserts:
“How dare we ask women to have their prescriptions filled for abortive drugs by pharmacists? Such dispositions suggest that the decision to carry out an abortion is innocuous, and disregard the violence of an act, in which life is at stake. Besides, women are put at a disproportionate risk. The Covid-19 crisis must not be used as a pretext to compromise women’s health and safety. Promoting drug-induced abortion during confinement is violent because women are even more isolated and alone. The French Health Minister has implemented these measures based on the downward trend in abortion numbers, which has not yet been confirmed by any quantitative analysis, and without considering what women might be going through. Indeed, the pandemic and its hazards may change one’s vision on unplanned pregnancies. The real health emergency is for pregnant women to receive the support and safety they need, and have the necessary assistance should problems arise. It is also essential to protect women from all kinds of violence, including the pressure, either from men or from near relatives, to have them abort against their will. “
