It is a bill that has gone unnoticed in the excitement of recent parliamentary weeks. Sixteen deputies Les Républicains (LR), led by the elected representative of Meurthe-et-Moselle Thibault Bazin, tabled a constitutional bill on July 9 “aimed at prohibiting the use of surrogacy” (surrogacy). Concretely, they wish to see the addition to Title VIII of the Constitution of the article: “No one can resort to surrogacy. »
In France, surrogacy outlawed, but practiced abroad
In France, surrogacy is prohibited by a 1994 law relating to respect for the human body. Result, according to the civil code, the sponsors of the GPA are guilty of the “crime of incitement to abandon a child”. Playing the middleman is also punishable by six months’ imprisonment and a fine of €7,500.
Except that“todaytoday, this prohibition is circumvented. Many French people go abroad, to countries where this practice is legal, proof that the current law is not dissuasive enough, regrets Thibault Bazin. The government keeps saying surrogacy is a red line. In fact, this red line is not effective, as highlighted by the war in Ukraine (1) or even the holding of a salon (the Désir d’enfant salon), every September for the past two years, which connects clinics and clients”.
In their proposal, the co-signatory deputies (including Annie Genevard, Xavier Breton and Patrick Hetzel) recall that the National Consultative Ethics Committee itself pleaded in favor of a ban on surrogacy, “in the name of respect for the human person, the refusal of the exploitation of women and the objectification of the child, the unavailability of the human body and of the human person”.
A desire to strengthen the arsenal of sanctions
For the parliamentarian, engrave the opposition to this practice “in the marble of the Constitution” “gives it back strength and scope”. However, will a principle, be it constitutional, prevent couples from going abroad? ” Of course not, admits Thibault Bazin. But once a practice contrary to French law has been identified, shouldn’t it be sanctioned? Currently this is not the case and French law does everything to make life easier for couples returning from abroad with their child. »
A vision that challenges Paul, father, with her husband, of two children born by GPA in the United States. “The administration puts a spoke in our wheels. It took us months to get the registration in our family record book. » The intended parent, when he is not the biological parent, must also, back in France, adopt the spouse’s child. Thibault Bazin would like to go further: “If the prohibition of surrogate mothers becomes a fundamental principle, the legal arsenal to fight against surrogacy could be expanded. And the offenders, just like their intermediaries (lawyers, agencies, etc.) could be really sanctioned. »
Tripatouillage
Simple parliamentary communication of the opposition as a new five-year term begins, or realistic proposal? Thibault Bazin himself knows that the next steps to take are delicate. “Everything will depend on the programming of the agenda. If the government proposes a constitutional revision project, I will carry this debate. »
“Drafted like this, the proposal has little chance of succeeding, however, believes Anne-Marie Le Pourhiet, professor of constitutional law. What can be included in the Constitution are major general principles, such as the unavailability of the human body, for example. » But we can not “tamper with it on the slightest societal subject”, she gets annoyed.
The procedure concerning constitutional bills, when they are of parliamentary and non-governmental origin, is particularly complex. «The text, assuming it is on the agenda and discussed, should indeed be adopted in the same terms by the two assemblies and submitted to a referendum.»says Anne-Marie Le Pourhiet.