Controversial bioethics bill passed by French parliament

Until now, the right to assisted reproduction was limited to heterosexual couples only. Lesbian couples or single women who had a wish for children had to go to Spain or Belgium for treatment. Despite the opposition of the right and Catholics, the law has been passed, writes French news site France24.

It was not the first time that the House voted on this bill. It had already been twice on the agenda of both the House and the Senate. French media calculated that it had been discussed at the political level for 300 hours since the bill was presented in the fall of 2019. In total, parliamentarians tabled 5000 amendments, writes Dutch Daily Reformatorisch Dagblad.

The moving around of the bill between the Chambers makes it clear that the changes are complex. There are profound differences of opinion not only between the MPs in the Assembly but also between the Senate and the Assembly.

Changes

The Senate in France also has the power to propose substantive changes to a bill. When that happens, the text goes back to the House of Representatives, which then sends it back to the Senate.

This “parliamentary shuttle” can repeat itself several times. If neither the House nor the Senate reaches an agreement, a joint committee with members from the Senate and the House is formed to smooth out the folds. If that also comes to nothing, the government will give the last word to the House of Representatives. The law on bioethics has almost gone through this entire process. The consequence of this method is that the Senate does not have the final say: the Assembly wins.

Opponents of the bioethics law are outraged by this turn of events. The conservative movement Manif pour Tous (The Protest For Everyone) called it “a democratic scandal” that an extremely sensitive bill appears to be getting through on this basis. On the left, lobbying organisations complain that the procedure has taken far too long.

The trial also shows how much two opposing visions of life and family clash in France. The underlying values are so far apart that no compromise is possible. Supporters of the proposals speak of an imminent “historic breakthrough.” At the same time, opponents accuse the government of knowingly denying children a father. They also criticise other parts of the law, such as greater space for embryonic research.