France : The broadcast of an anti-abortion movie

Although the French government enshrined the right to voluntary interruption of pregnancy (abortion) in the Constitution in March 2024, less than a year later it also authorised the broadcast of the film Unplanned on the C8 channel. This channel, owned by Vincent Bolloré, a Catholic billionaire, was due to cease broadcasting following a decision by Arcom (the French Authority for the Regulation of Audiovisual and Digital Communication), based on the requirement for pluralism of socio-cultural currents of expression. However, the film was broadcast before the scheduled switch-off. Unplanned, produced by an evangelical Christian studio, presents scientific untruths, notably through an abortion scene showing a foetus that appears to be struggling. By allowing this film to be shown, the government is legitimising an anti-choice discourse that makes women feel guilty and supports the vision of Vincent Bolloré, for whom abortion is ‘something terrible’, where ‘two freedoms’ clash: ‘the freedom of individuals to decide for themselves’ and ‘the freedom of children to live’.

Sources : Le Parisien, France info, Le Parisien