The examination of the bioethics bill, at second reading in the Senate, continued on Wednesday in a tense climate.
The rejection of article 1 of the text, which opens the PMA to couples of women and single women, Tuesday evening, caused havoc.
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This article 1 did not satisfy the supporters of this reform because the senators chose to exclude single women from this right.
But it was also rejected by right-wing parliamentarians opposed to the opening of the post-mortem PMA, voted in confusion.
Ultimately, a new vote must be organized on this flagship measure at the end of the week, at the end of the examination of the text.
In the meantime, parliamentarians had to pronounce on the delicate subject of parentage in a tense climate.
"Legislative disorder"
Discuss the filiation of the children of female couples without having voted for the opening of the assisted reproduction, a situation called “ubuesque” by the Communist senator, Laurence Cohen.
"We are going to vote on something that does not exist, in weightlessness"
, she criticized while one of the rapporteurs, Bernard Jommier (PS) deplored a
"legislative disorder"
.
"The text has been emptied,
Patricia Schillinger (LaREM) said.
It is no longer a skeleton which does not meet the real expectations of the French".
Basically, as during the first examination, the Senate, with a right-wing majority, has drawn its red lines on this sensitive aspect of the text.
In an atmosphere that had become more serene again, they favored an accelerated adoption, under the supervision of the judge, to recognize the link of the “second mother”, spouse of the biological mother, with the child born of assisted reproduction.
This mechanism
"makes it possible to establish a bond of quality filiation without undermining the current system",
said Muriel Jourda (LR), co-rapporteur of the law.
The elected officials therefore rejected the solution adopted by the deputies and defended by the government: early recognition of the child before a notary.
"Let us ensure that the law remains a bulwark"
On the controversial theme of the filiation of children born of surrogacy (surrogacy), the right-wing senators voted for stricter control by France of the filiation of children born to a surrogate mother abroad.
They opted for the prohibition of "any complete transcription" of a foreign birth certificate.
Their objective is to avoid "automatic" recognition by France of children born to mothers abroad in order to avoid weakening the prohibition of surrogacy in France.
“The concept of 'ghost children' does not exist.
These children who are born abroad benefit from a civil status.
We are on a Trojan horse,
pleaded Bruno Retailleau, president of the LR group in the Senate.
If we want to fight against surrogacy, against commodification, let the law remain a bulwark ”.
The Minister of Justice agrees in thinking that it was relevant to take up this question after the reversal of the Court of Cassation in December 2019, which
"removed surrogacy abroad from any control by the judge" .
“It is therefore necessary to re-establish this control concerning the parentage link.
For this, the adoption procedure is adapted ”
, he added.
But he nevertheless judged that the senators' solution went too far and that it was necessary
"to provide a way out when adoption is impossible".
