by Alliance VITA | January 19, 2020 | News, Bioethics Law
In Paris, on January 19, 2020, Caroline Roux, Alliance VITA’s Assistant General Delegate, spoke at the massive citizen protest movement against the bioethics bill, organized by “March for the Children”.
“If we are here today, braving the cold, some travelling from long distances, it is not to promote our self-interest.
We are here today to defend the most vulnerable, and a world where human biodiversity is welcomed as an opportunity.”
This bioethics law affects all of us, and it will have a strong impact on our future generations.
Just as we gradually become aware of the damage inflicted on the environment, this law is ruining the very first ecological principle: that of protecting human nature and human biodiversity.
Our parliamentarians are currently discussing ‘progress’ in relation to motherhood, fatherhood, disabilities and human life. It is essential to make a distinction between real progress, and discrimination and injustice.
Should we call it progress when paternity disappears behind artificial procreation techniques?
Should we call it progress when man’s role is just to supply gametes and when children are deliberately deprived of paternal filiation?
Should we call it progress to resort to artificial and overmedicated maternity, imposing hormonal treatments on women without any medical reason whatsoever? Should we call it progress to encourage women to have their oocytes frozen to achieve motherhood, an illusory promise which can never be guaranteed?
Should we call it progress to turn a blind eye to the violations of the law implied by the commodification of the body of foreign surrogate mothers?
Should we call it progress to “pinpoint anomalies” and to eliminate vulnerable people rather than welcome them and try to find treatments for them?
Some have attempted to limit our freedom of speech. There is no debate but intimidation instead. This is insufferable. And we shall not surrender.
Society will progress provided that paternity and men are respected, provided that maternity and women are respected, provided that differences and vulnerability are respected.
Human beings are not machines, nor objects with price tags, to be bargained or thrown away.
Should we call it progress when the human embryo – and at one time all of us were human embryos – is used as raw material for the lab, to be genetically modified, to create chimeras by combining its cells with animal cells, or even used to produce artificial gametes?
Should we call it progress when human integrity is no longer respected, and scientists are allowed to play God?
We request that the precautionary approach, which is rightly applied to the environment, be applied first and foremost to protecting the human being.
By blowing the whistle on these essential issues, we are pioneers.
We are pioneers for a world in which human beings as well as the environment are protected.
Don’t be mistaken. If our march started Place de la Resistance today, the idea is not to retreat. We shall go forward.
The government must stop this bill, which is against human dignity and human rights.
We ask our parliamentarians to stand firm and voice their opposition to this law which, as it stands, does not deserve to be called ‘bioethical’.
They have an enormous responsibility: for now, and for the generations to come. And it is our responsibility as well.
Your presence here today is a wonderful opportunity, as is the support of those following us all over France.
Regardless of the final results, we mustn’t forget that we are actors in our society. We shall not surrender. Our fight against injustice and discrimination will never end.
Progress means a genuine human ecology in bioethics.
by Alliance VITA | January 16, 2020 | News
In China, the scientist who produced genetically modified twin babies has been sentenced to three years in prison.
In November 2018, the Chinese scientist He Jiankiu provoked shock and outrage around the world when he announced the birth of twin girls whose DNA he had altered. By using the Crispr-Cas 9 technique, he attempted to confer immunity to H.I.V. since their father was infected with AIDS virus. Since this announcement, a third child was born to another woman using the same technique.
Ultimately, the Chinese authorities, who had previously been accused of laxity following this event, sentenced Jiankiu to three years in prison and a fine of three million Yuan (385,000 €) for “illegally carrying out genetic manipulation of embryos for reproductive purposes,” according to the New China news agency. In addition, the court found the scientist guilty of “forging approval documents from ethical review boards” and of “using technologies of uncertain safety and effectiveness”. Moreover, according to the extracts of the experiment published in the MIT Technology Review, it has not been proved that the babies are really immunized against AIDS.
The Chinese Civil Code is scheduled to be revised in March, with a new article to be drafted concerning the regulation of genome research.
by Alliance VITA | January 14, 2020 | News, Bioethics
In 200 cities throughout France and abroad, 8000 persons took part simultaneously in these innovative bioethics video-conferences.
The opening evening was dedicated to a reflection on where we stand in the world today, especially in regard to bioethics.
The evening started with Gilles Hiérard Dubreuil, President and co-initiator of the “Currents for Human Ecology”, with his reflections on modern societal challenges. In his opinion, we are leaving behind an era which has been exclusively based on “techniques” towards an “era for mankind” where a more “lovable world” based on human ecology, can be built to support those who are the most vulnerable.
Caroline Roux, Alliance VITA’s Assistant General Delegate, exposed the current paradoxes in bioethics, which include issues such as the desire for a child, infertility, accepting disabled persons, the commodification of human embryos and handling end-of-life care. She clarified the tensions that have surfaced in our society, demonstrating the consequences which result from separating bioethics from ethics.
Esther Pivet, Polytechnique graduate and founder of the association “Vigigender” then tackled the issue of gender in the section dedicated to “Understanding Bioethics”.
This evening’s guest witness was Yves Meaudre, the Vice-President of Children of the Mekong, who declared that “At the core of his being, Man feels a calling, to fulfill himself by striving to do better, to push himself beyond his limits”.
Finally, Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate, concluded the evening by suggesting some “keys for measuring our standpoints“. Each participant was invited to see himself as a successor of the past, in order to make responsible choices, “here and now”, in order to become an active role player in today’s history.
The theme for the second evening is “Enduring”.
![[Press Release] Bioethics: New Transgressions Enacted by French Senatorial Committee](https://www.alliancevita.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Senat-1080x675.jpg)
by Alliance VITA | January 8, 2020 | Bioethics Law, Press Releases
In less than 48 hours, the Senatorial special committee examined and amended the pending bioethics law in France.
Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate stated: “We are very concerned about the bioethics committee’s votes, and we hope that in the upcoming session, the senators will be more cautious and wise. Article 1 regarding “ART without a father” was unfortunately adopted, and this, by only a slight margin of 4 votes. And if the committee refused ART reimbursement except for causes of infertility, which will inevitably cause an uproar, nonetheless, this welcome concession does not balance the large number of transgressions added to the draft law of the deputies.
Namely, the text approves on: experimenting on embryos for longer periods of time (21 days), adding new eugenic procedures with pre-implantation screening to select embryos, re-introducing the double-sorting process – the so-called “double-hope baby” – and ambiguously eliminating physicians’ conscientious objection clause for therapeutic abortions. The Senate could miss a historical opportunity to make an impact, if it fails to consider the increasing eugenics this text contains.
As a protection against the dangers of surrogacy, the transcription of birth certificates established abroad will be refused if the name of the surrogate mother is not specified, or if two ‘fathers’ are mentioned. But this restriction is a small compensation of the new transgressions introduced.
Hence, we ask our senators to have the courage to voice opposition to the general impetus of this law which, as it stands, does not deserve to be called ‘bioethical’.
Society will progress provided that paternity, maternity and its most vulnerable members are respected, because they are the retaining walls of human ecology. For this reason, Alliance VITA calls for a large attendance to the national protest on January 19, 2020 in Paris with the “March for the Children”.
![[Press Release] URGENT: Judge Orders Mediatransports to Resume Alliance VITA’s Advertising Campaign](https://www.alliancevita.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Mediatransport-handicap-et-paternité-1080x675.jpg)
by Alliance VITA | January 4, 2020 | Bioethics Law, Press Releases
Alliance VITA praises the court’s decision ordering to resume their censored campaign “Society will progress”.
Alliance VITA praises the decision of the interim relief judge of the Paris Court of Justice. Mediatransports stands accused of arbitrary censorship for stopping the “Society will progress” campaign and is ordered to post again the two visuals they had withdrawn on January 2, without any prior notice, and without even notifying the association.
Alliance VITA requests the second media network, Exterion Media, to resume immediately the campaign in full respect of the contract signed, otherwise the association will take legal action. Indeed Exterion Media received and followed an injunction from the Parisian mayor, Annie Hidalgo, to remove all three versions of the posters from the streets of Paris on January 3, 2020.
Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate declares: “This ruling is certainly a victory for Alliance VITA and for the noble causes we are fighting for with dignity. But first and foremost, it is a victory for the freedom of speech against a ‘thought police’. The words ‘paternity and maternity, very neutrally promoted in the posters, have been banned while at the same time the French are harassed with so many violent or consumerist visuals. This fact is a call to conscience and Alliance VITA intends to contribute to this call via its campaign and its unexpected chain reactions. “
In this regard, Alliance VITA denounces the fact that some anonymous twitter accounts, are used to denounce and censure. They have a real power of intimidation and are truly detrimental, as demonstrated in this campaign, to democratic debate.
