In a petition in Figaro, 340 doctors protest against the position adopted by the French Medical Association, which has announced that it is not opposed to the legalisation of ‘medically assisted reproduction for women’. The doctors regret the fact that the “institution that is supposed to represent them” did not consult the entire profession on this issue[1], and asks the French Medical Association to publish over the next few days, an official statement disclaiming this initial stance and reverting “to strictly medical dialogue”.
Doctor Jean-Marie Faroudja, who spoke on behalf of the French Medical Association at the National Assembly on 19 September, in fact stated that the association “was not against extending medically assisted reproduction to single women and lesbian couples”, explaining that it “cannot go against” society’s demands. The 340 doctors who signed the petition want to dissociate themselves from this position “which is contrary to the medical vocation and medical oath”. They list four reasons:
- “Medically assisted reproduction for all women” is not a medical indication—“it is therefore paradoxical if not contradictory to hear that the French Medical Association is not opposed to extending medically assisted reproduction”.
- The “suffering of women who want to have a child […] is not a valid argument”: it implies that “women would suffer less or would no longer suffer if they were to have a child”, which has not been proven in “any serious study”.
- Adopting the approach conveyed by the Academy of Medicine in May 2018, they point out that “Donor-aided medically assisted reproduction inevitably deprives the child of a proper relationship with two adults of different genders”. ‘Medically assisted reproduction for all women’ goes against the medical principle “primum non nocere”, because “creating children without a father is harmful to them in the end”.
- Not to oppose ‘medically assisted reproduction for all women’ “leaves the door open to all manner of abuse: how could we then refuse requests for perfect babies from heterosexual couples who turn towards the medical profession to meet their expectations in the name of equality? “ Furthermore, “making non-medical assisted reproduction available to healthy women is tantamount to commodifying the human body”.
Le Figaro (07/10/2018)