- Title: Thousands march in Paris against assisted procreation bill
- Date: 6th October 2019
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 6, 2019) (REUTERS) SIGN WITH PICTURE OF PREGNANT WOMAN AT PROTEST PROTESTERS GATHERED PROTESTER HOLDING SIGN READING (French): "WHERE'S YOUR DAD?" PROTESTERS GATHERED (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARIS PROTESTER, ELISABETH BELEN DE CHANTEMELE, SAYING: "A child needs a father to build himself up, to grow up. They're stealing that from them. It's especially that. Also, what says medically assisted procreation soon would also mean surrogacy, the commercialisation of a child? That's unacceptable." PROTESTERS GATHERED SIGNS AT PROTEST (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARIS NURSE AND PROTESTER, ODILE GUINNEPAIN, SAYING: "In a society that developed aid to orphans, especially to children orphaned in wars, it's quite strange today to do it intentionally, excluding all the aspects that not all women love and welcome. But that's not the problem. The problem is that we're making children orphans, with all the consequences on the child's human and psychological construct." PROTESTERS GATHERED SIGN READING (French): "INTENTIONALLY DEPRIVED OF A DAD - WHERE IS PROGRESS IN THAT?" PROTESTERS GATHERED, HOLDING FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (French) PROTESTER FROM LE MANS, DOMINIQUE COULON, SAYING: "We'll see the coming of the commercialisation of children, knowing that we fought to fight slavery. Now, we'll end up returning into a system of slavery because we'll use human beings to buy children, to have after-sales services, things that are not logical at all. It's not human, it's business." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS GATHERED FRENCH FLAG FLYING
- Embargoed: 20th October 2019 16:02
- Keywords: France IVF assisted procreation protest conservative groups La Manif pour tous Paris
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Lawmaking,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002AZYL26F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CAN BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH EDIT 6114-FRANCE-REFORM/IVF-PROTESTS-PREVIEW, WHICH CONTAINS IMAGES OF SPERM BEING INJECTED INTO OOCYTE AT LABORATORY AND INTERVIEWS WITH PRO- AND ANTI-ASSISTED PROCREATION ACTIVISTS
Thousands of protesters gathered in Paris on Sunday (October 6) to denounce a bioethics bill that would extend access to medically assisted procreation (PMA) to single women and lesbian couples in France.
Around 20 associations, many of them conservative and led by anti-gay marriage group La Manif pour tous, said the bill could "intentionally deprive" children of fathers, a situation that would prove onerous for youth.
Until now, lesbian couples and single women in France wishing to bear children have to seek procedures abroad, most commonly in Belgium and Spain, forcing them to spend thousands of euros, to take a leave of absence and to see a new set of doctors.
At Sunday's demonstration, which took place near the French Senate, protesters carried flags and signs, some of which read "Liberty, Equality, Paternity," a wordplay on France's national slogan. Activists gave speeches decrying the PMA.
Still, nearly two-thirds of French people are in favour of extending the PMA. A BVA poll in late April found that 65 percent agreed to it, 10 points higher than in 2014, a year after the same-sex marriage law was passed.
The PMA is only one aspect of the wide-ranging bioethics bill, which is currently being debated in parliament and will also touch on establishing marital filiation, lifting sperm donor anonymity, egg freezing, genetic testing and research on embryonic stem cells.
(Production: Clotaire Achi, Manuel Ausloos, Ardee Napolitano) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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