Catholic voice and ART: revising the French bioethics law

Abstract

In France, assisted reproductive technology (ART) is regulated by a ‘law relative to bioethics’ voted by the French Parliament in 1994. This law undergoes regular parliamentary revision (in 2004 and 2011) and is currently under review (2019–2020). The most controversial issue at present is access to ART by lesbian couples and single women. The Catholic Church has taken an active part in these debates, despite the fact that France is a secular state, and religion is barred from interference in government policy. Nonetheless, the Church justifies its participation by presenting itself as a guardian of moral values and as an authority on issues related to the family. The Church’s discourse combines religious and secular arguments that foster what I call an ‘anxious rhetoric’, sometimes shared by other segments of the population. Drawing on an ethnographic survey of public debates that preceded and accompanied the present revision of the bioethics law, this article analyses Catholic arguments regarding the specific controversy of ART for lesbian couples and single women.