Cadre juridique de l’assistance médicale à la procréation en France, à l’aube du processus de révision de la loi de bioéthique

Abstract

In France, since 1994, the law set up ethical principles applying to the donation of human body elements and products and their use in the context of medicine. A such, assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have been strictly regulated through the law on bioethics.In order to take into account the constant changes and emergent ethical and social issues in this innovative domain, the French law on bioethics set up the principle of its own periodic review.The legal provisions on anonymous and free donation and on the medical purpose of ART have been consequently largely debated and then reaffirmed during the different process of review of the law.The French legal framework in force applying to ART is described here.Created by law in 2004, the Agence de la biomédecine represents the national Competent Authority for medical and technical aspects of ART practices. Its missions focus on improving quality and safety of ART practices and guarantying an equal access to those treatments.The most recent law on bioethics was voted in 2011, scheduling its own revision after 7 years. Early 2018, the national committee on ethics (CCNE) launched a large public consultation on bioethics organising the collective thought.A project for the future law based on the summary report of the CCNE and the numerous inputs of the official reports including the Agence de la biomédecine, Council of state and the parliamentary group on technologic and scientific options’ reports should be submitted to the parliament in July 2018.