Paris (AFP)

Last straight line for the re-examination of the bioethics bill by the Assembly: after divisions within the majority and sometimes complicated votes, the deputies must adopt in the night from Friday to Saturday this emblematic text opening the PMA to all women.

Completing in less than a week, before the summer break, the discussions started Monday on more than 2,000 amendments tabled is a challenge.

If necessary, the deputies could still sit on Saturday on this vast societal text which bristles the right, standing wind against the creation of "orphans of fathers", and raises questions in all political groups, the majority included.

Putting a final push, the Manif pour tous released two bouquets of balloons on Friday morning in front of the Palais Bourbon bearing the inscription "Stop PMA".

Flagship measure, the opening promised by Emmanuel Macron of medically assisted procreation (PMA) to lesbian couples and single women was validated Wednesday evening without a hitch, with a handful of votes against the tide in almost all camps, such as at first reading nine months ago.

The bill also provides for a reform of filiation in connection with assisted reproduction, the self-preservation of oocytes and facilitated research on embryonic stem cells.

Friday evening, the deputies discussed at length before opposing the experimentation of a sensitive technique, the expansion of the preimplantation diagnosis in search of chromosomal abnormalities (DPI-A).

This measure represented a casus belli for the right which castigated "eugenics" by a "sorting of embryos".

The government was also against it, but leading "marchers" supported this DPI-A, which would be non-compulsory and would reduce miscarriages or identify possible Down's syndrome before assisted reproduction, they argued.

- "Ridge line" -

The government, which had pleaded to stick to the "balance" of the text voted on first reading, therefore won, unlike the day before.

Thursday, against the advice of Secretary of State Adrien Taquet, the Assembly voted in a very close ballot so that children born from a donation of gametes before the bill can also benefit from the new system of access to the origins proposed by this text.

Also against the recommendations of the government, the deputies have allowed parents who wish to have access to non-identifying donor data before the majority of their children.

"We could have dispensed with this provision," said Mr. Taquet. The government has the option of requesting a new deliberation before the final vote on the entire bill.

Deputies had anticipated a review "a little more rock'n'roll" than at first reading, with some LREM not wanting to "let go".

Leader of the majority group on this text, Aurore Bergé estimated, with AFP, that "the debates have managed to keep the height of view" initial.

On a "crest line", "we have found and maintained an ethical balance, whether it is on the recognition of children born abroad of surrogacy, or the opening of the assisted reproduction for all but not post-mortem".

The Assembly also rejected the technique known as ROPA, that is to say the donation of oocytes within a couple of women with a view to an assisted reproduction, despite the strong plea of ​​the co-rapporteur Jean-Louis Touraine (LREM).

Friday afternoon, the LRs sought in vain to remove or further frame the article aimed at facilitating research on embryonic stem cells, criticizing a "headlong rush".

A little earlier, the issue of recreational genetic testing sparked family stories from several deputies, once again divided as to their authorization. No green light in fine to these unreliable tests according to the government.

The bill will still have to go back to the Senate, perhaps not until January 2021, before parliamentarians from both chambers attempt to find a compromise version.

© 2020 AFP