- Title: 'Liberty, equality, paternity': Thousands march in Paris against IVF bill
- Date: 19th January 2020
- Summary: EL SHARARA, LIBYA (FILE - DECEMBER 6, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EL SHARARA OILFIELD, OIL STORAGE CONTAINERS SIGN READING (English and Arabic): 'AKAKUS OIL OPERATIONS EL-SHARARA FIELD' VARIOUS OF PUMPING STATIONS PUMP COUNTERS VARIOUS OF OIL TANKS VARIOUS OF PIPES VARIOUS OF OIL STORAGE TANKS VARIOUS OF WORKERS GATHERED AT OIL PIPE METERS VARIOUS OF COUNTERS MOUNTED ON PIP
- Embargoed: 2nd February 2020 15:23
- Keywords: France IVF Manif pour Tous Paris bioethics law medically assisted procreation protest reproductive rights
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Lawmaking,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003BWU9UFB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Thousands of protesters decrying a French bill that would allow medically assisted procreation (PMA) for lesbian couples and single women filled the streets of Paris on Sunday (January 19).
At the march, which comes two days before the divisive "bioethics bill" is set to land on the Senate floor for the first time after achieving majority in parliament, protesters from various groups waved flags with the slogan "Liberty, equality, paternity."
About 20 associations, including the prominent Manif pour Tous group that led the anti-gay marriage campaign in France before it was legalised in 2013, were present at the march.
They called on the government's withdrawal of the bill, which they say would deprive children of fathers and would lead to the legalisation of surrogacy.
France's national assembly passed the first reading of the bill in October 2019 amid divided public opinion on the legalisation of PMA, one of President Emmanuel Macron's promises during his election in 2017.
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.
The Senate will start debating the bill on Tuesday (January 21). If the bill passes the Senate, it will have to go through France's Legal Commission before a second and definitive vote in the parliament.
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