French panel backs assisted procreation for lesbian couples
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) visit an exhibition about Russian emperor Peter the Great at the Grand Trianon following their meeting at the Versailles Palace, near Paris, on May 29, 2017.
A French ethics committee has backed assisted procreation for lesbian couples and single people.
The recommended change would mean that female same-sex couples and single people would have access to sperm donor techniques.
The National Consultative Committee on Ethics made the recommendation on Tuesday, after President Emmanuel Macron promised to make the medically assisted reproduction techniques available to lesbians.
The recommendation takes the country a step closer to equal rights for LGBT people.
Macron has been urged by one group which opposed the legalisation of same-sex marriage back in 2013 to back down on the issue.
The group said that it was “futile” to debate the issue, writing to Macron.
But if France goes ahead and changes its laws on assisted procreation, it would bring it in line with other European countries like Britain, Belgium and Spain.
It is currently only available to straight couples in France.
Some LGBT groups welcomed the recommendation, and SOS Homophibie said it was a good move, urging the President to legislate for the move swiftly.
Macron, who has spoken out on a number of LGBT issues, officially became the President of France last month.
Macron is a staunch supporter of LGBT rights and equality, having dedicated an entire section of his manifesto to addressing issues that the LGBT community faces.
The newly elected president, who is the youngest president to ever be elected in France, has pledged to end everyday homophobia as well as workplace anti-LGBT discrimination.
He has also promised to defend equal marriage, a legislation that Macron has deemed “an enrichment of what the family is in France that shows its importance to all of us”.
His anti-LGBT opponent, Le Pen, had promised to abolish the law that created marriage equality in the country, burying the policy in a manifesto of 144 pledges.
