French communist youth demand Medically Assisted Procreation for all in need

A bioethics bill with provisions for extension of Medically Assisted Procreation services to single women and lesbian couples was approved by the French national assembly. However, it was not extended to the transgender community

August 07, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch

The Communist youth group, the Mouvement Jeunes Communistes de France (MJCF), has demanded accessibility to Medically Assisted Procreation (MAP) for all sections in need, including married women, single women, lesbian couples, as well as the transgender community. The MJCF welcomed the French national assembly’s second round approval, on August 1, for a bill on bioethics which includes provisions for extension of MAP services to single women and lesbian couples. Earlier, MAP facilities were allowed only for heterosexual couples. However, the demand for extension of MAP services to members of the transgender community has still not been approved by the national assembly.

According to reports, the bioethics bill was approved in its second reading with the backing of 60 MPs belonging to parties including French president Emmanuel Macron’s La République en Marche (LREM), the Democratic Movement (MoDem), La France Insoumise (FI) and the French Communist Party (PCF). The bill was opposed by 37 MPs mainly from the Republicans (LR) and the UDI.

Following the vote, MJCF stated, “For nearly a decade, and against the backdrop of successive unfulfilled promises, thousands of women have been waiting to be able to achieve their dreams for parenthood. Finally, female couples and single women have the right to have recourse to Medically Assisted Procreation under the same conditions as heterosexual couples, the assisted reproduction will in fact be fully reimbursed by Social Security.”

“However, equal access to assisted reproduction is still not complete, its access to transgender people was rejected by the Assembly. The Movement of Young Communists of France is mobilized so that the MAP is open to all, and will continue to pursue its fight for equality,” MJCF added. 

The bioethics bill – approved in its first reading in the national assembly in October 2019 and passed in the Senate in January 2020 – has ignited strong debate and ideological polarization in French society. The liberals, leftist and feminist sections have called for the immediate passing of the bill, while the far-right and conservative groups, including a section of the Catholic Church, has not been enthusiastic about it. These sections accuse the government of showing unnecessary urgency in approving the bill in the national assembly. Opponents of the bill, including La Manif Pour Tous (The Strike For All), whose members are seeking to protect traditional conception, have previously organized several protest demonstrations against the bill.