Researchers at INED (French National Institute of Demographic Studies) and INSERM (French National Institute for Health and Medical Research) are responsible for processing data from the abortion declaration forms doctors are required to complete by law. However, as researchers complained, "The forms have not been processed since 1998 and are piling up as not completed by the administration; the situation is rather serious." Abortion data is therefore gathered from surveys, which does not enable changes to be tracked accurately.

At the end of 2003, the DRESS (French department of research, studies, assessment and statistics) published a new form with a simplified questionnaire. For researchers at INED and INSERM, this form only serves to comply with legal obligations but does not enable a precise analysis of abortion practices in France.

It is therefore very difficult to assess the consequences of extending the legal limit for abortions and the availability of the day after pill.

The Department of Public Health recognises that there is "a problem" and regrets "this lack of correct abortion tracking".

Three weeks from now, the DRESS is set to publish its abortion figures for 2002…

Le Monde (Sandrine Blanchard) 14/10/04

The second televised debate between George Bush and John Kerry focused on abortion and stem cell issues. American opinion is very divided over these two issues and they will certainly be one of the major focuses of the presidential campaign. The two candidates were asked two questions, one on the use of human embryo stem cells and the other on funding pro-abortion policies.

"We can have ethical human embryo stem cell research," reckoned John Kerry. "We need to find the right balance between ethics and science, stressed George Bush. (...) Destroying life to save life is one of the ethical dilemmas of our times." In August 2001, he decided to cut back public funding for human embryo stem cell research (see September 2001 Letter).

Concerning abortion, John Kerry explained why he would finance pro-abortion policies while George Bush stated, "We will not spend taxpayers' money on abortion." George Bush stressed that in order to reduce the number of abortions in the United States, he signed the law prohibiting late abortion (see press review of 23/10/03), which John Kerry was against. This concerns abortions "by dilatation and extraction" carried out in the second trimester of pregnancy and later, which George Bush refers to as a "barbaric practice".

By signing the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, George Bush has acknowledged the legal status of the embryo (see press review of 26/03/04). When a crime is committed against a pregnant woman, the perpetrator is charged with two crimes against both the woman and her foetus.

Bush argued in favour of "promoting a culture of life in America".

Le Monde 10,14 & 15/10/04 - Libération 15/10/04 - La Croix 15/10/04 - Le Figaro 14/10/04

The UN is commemorating the tenth anniversary of the 1984 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. France is represented by Nicole Ameline, Minister for Parity and Equality in the Workplace.

179 countries have signed a 20-year "plan of action" that provides for universal access to healthcare services and includes family planning, reducing maternal and infant mortality, preventing and treating sexually transmitted diseases, etc.

Already under Bill Clinton's presidency, the United States declared its reservations about this plan of action. The Bush administration now accuses the ICPD of promoting abortion. This is why it has stopped funding the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF), accusing it of helping China's practice of coercive abortion.

La Croix (Pascale Puthod) 14/10/04