The battle is not lost

The national Assembly vote on the draft bill "marriage pour tous" is "just a stage". the Mobilization "is ongoing". "We haven’t lost the battle yet", states Antoine Renard, president of the national Confederation of Catholic Family Associations in France. On February 12 the draft bill – presented by Minister of Justice Christiane Toubira – passed on the first reading at the national Assembly. What can be best described as a marathon began on January 29, which continued non-stop until February 9, amounting to running 10 days of parliamentary debate – 110 hours (including night-hours and week-ends) – 24 sessions, and 4.999 amendments. The text was finally adopted by a margin of 100 votes: 329 ayes, 229 noes. In a phone-interview Maria Chiara Biagioni for SIR Europe asked Renard to comment on the results of the voting.The national Assembly said ‘yes’ to the "marriage pour tous" bill. Could you comment on this?"It’s a pity that this law was passed by MPs with these numbers. In fact, 299 MPs declared their opposition to the law. These are important declarations of vote, to be taken into due account to get a full picture of the balance of powers. We shall continue our discussions and our mobilization: the bill still needs to win the approval of the French Senate. There is greater conscience-awareness and that’s why we view national Assembly vote as a step. Our struggle has not ended and the battle has not been lost". Which part of the draft law do you oppose the most? "Marriage and adoption: today everyone considers marriage according to their personal understanding. We consider the law as jeopardizing social cohesion. But having opened up adoption to same sex couples is even more serious, having stripped the concept of parenthood of its content carrying the negative consequences of medically assisted procreation and surrogate motherhood. The bill fails to prevent such repercussions. And the proposal is all the more serious as it directly impacts children’s lives". Why did things go so far?"First, the president of the Republic took a commitment during the electoral campaign – a concession to very strong lobbies. Second, the government has decided to impose the continuation of the process. The truth is that nobody realized the serious backlash triggered by the bill. The situation worsened, while those who highlighted the difficulties were unheard. We are facing an ideological issue". Does this mean democratic debate was lacking? "Yes, democratic debate was rejected, preventing conscience examination. All forms of debate within society and in Parliament were marked by obstructionism to opposing stances, also on the part of some MPs. It wasn’t a debate. In fact, it was a clash".You spoke of a stage. Thus the mobilization is ongoing. Which shape will it take? "We intend to continue a public awareness campaign with meetings, debates and press statements. According to recent surveys 60% of the French population are in favor of homosexual marriage but 54% are against adoption, while 53% oppose medically assisted procreation. We should therefore continue telling people that adoption and marriage are strictly bound to one another. We will continue to meet the mayors: 52% called for the withdrawal of the law. We have also launched a petition at the Economic, Environmental and Social Council, CESA, that has already collected over 600 thousand signatures, appealing against the bill. At this point the Council will undertake an initiative. An international event is being planned in Paris for March 24". What do you expect?"We hope that the president of the Republic finally understood that he is causing a serious division in the Country, and that he should withdraw the bill in order to address the economic urgencies that require cohesion and unity. This is not the right moment to divide the country on a theme that would benefit from the quest for consensus rather than an open clash".