Beyond the emblematic issue of “ART without a father” lie many other bioethics issues, which are just as serious.
This new bioethics bill contains 3 major transgressions:
In the field of artificial procreation, eliminating the infertility criterion to access ART, opens the door for a “right to a child” without a father, or even for “babies created by using artificial techniques”.
Even if surrogacy is still banned in France, we are heading towards a market of gametes and procreation, and the delusive promise of self-preservation of oocytes for women, which is even worse;
- Human embryo research is now permitted, up to a 14-day lifespan; transgenic embryos and chimerical embryos are allowed, as well as artificial gametes;
- Eugenics is also on the rise: the week reflection period prior to abortion for a medical reason has been eliminated, pre-conception tests are more and more numerous, and the legislators refuse to define more stringent regulations for screening prenatal procedures such as Prenatal Diagnosis and Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PND and PGD).
In a number of hearings, in particular before the National Assembly special bioethics commission, Alliance VITA denounced a deliberate disregard for two priorities:
- The fight against infertility which affects one in ten couples; genuine policies to prevent infertility and restore fertility are the “poor cousins” regarding public health policies.
- The fight against the prenatal eugenics: sadly France already holds the world record for prenatal eugenics, due to its generous health care system and its welfare state.
Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate and author of Time for Mankind, for a revolution in human ecology (Plon Editions) declares:
“It is a public health scandal that although 1 in 10 couples have infertility problems, and too many infants are already suffering from the absence of a father, this new law for fatherless ART allocates public funds and medicine towards women who have no infertility problems whatsoever. When the Medical Academy admonishes against creating a “major anthropological schism” their warning should not be taken lightly, nor in contempt. We urgently need fertility restoration policies that stand firm against technicians placing all their bets on artificial procreation. We also call for a fight against eugenics which, in France more than anywhere in the world, screens and sorts out human beings. How ironical it is to think that the quality of our health care system combined with our welfare state’s unique generosity create the exclusion of our most vulnerable citizens, (our disabled persons) and lead to a law for the fittest (adult’s rights to the detriment of the child’s best interest)! We shall march on October 6 to call for changes. “
Alliance VITA calls for participation in the inter-associative movement, March for the Children on October 6th in Paris.
