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Nearly 26,000 people opposed to the generalization of PMA to female couples marched through the streets of Paris on January 19, 2020. CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Coming from all over France, tens of thousands of opponents to the opening of the PMA to all women marched on Sunday in Paris, the day before the Senate's examination of the bioethics bill.

Approximately 26,000 people marched at the call of the collective "Marchons Enfants!" Which brings together 22 associations including the Manif pour tous, according to a statement by the independent firm Occurrence for a media collective. They were 41,000 according to the prefecture of Paris. This is almost three times less than at the previous rally on October 6, which had brought together 74,500 people.

For their part, the organizers refused to give a figure, denouncing the " fanciful estimates " provided. For this new meeting, the red and green crowd of demonstrators, many of whom came with their families from the provinces, marched calmly from the Alma bridge to the Place de l'Opéra, around 4 p.m., after having skirted the Seine and crossed the Louvre under a winter sun.

" We are immensely numerous, from all over France, ringing the alarm bell: the child, the father and the mother are in danger ", welcomed the president of the Manif pour tous , Ludovine de la Rochère. She appealed to senators to " resist the progressives " and " have the courage to rewrite the text completely ".

The opening of the PMA to couples of women is at the center of protests and fears. Arnaud, 17, is a volunteer of the organization, he distributes the flags on which we can read: "freedom, equality, fatherhood".

[Report] Nearly 26,000 protesters against PMA in Paris 01/19/2020 - by Agnès Rougier Listen

The senators, who examine the project from Tuesday, have already adopted the project in special committee on January 8, including article 1 on PMA, despite the hostility of a part of the right, majority in the Palace of Luxembourg .