French To Block Pro-Life Websites

The French government has announced plans to block pro-life websites that it considers to provide biased information about abortion while appearing to be neutral. 

Under an amendment to a current "Equality and Citizenship" law, owners of pro-life sites could face a 30,000 euro fine (about $33,600) and two years in prison, the same penalties that currently apply to "the offense of obstruction to abortion," which has been illegal since 1993.

In 1993, the French government created a law that prevents pro-life activists from using "moral and psychological maneuvers" to convince women not to go through an abortion.

In one case, an 84-year-old pro-life activist named Xavier Dor was fined 10,000 euros ($13,360) for attempting to counsel women at an abortion clinic. 

Dor reportedly showed knitted baby shoes to a woman. The 31st Criminal Chamber of the Paris Tribunal ruled that the act constituted "unheard of violence."

The proposed ban is targeted specifically at pro-life counseling websites who advertise that they wish to help pregnant women but not mention that they don't refer for abortions.

Laurence Rossignol, the minister for families, children and women's rights said in a statement:

"Being hostile to abortion is an opinion protected by the civil liberties in France, but creating websites that appear official but actually give biased information designed to deter, to blame, or to assign trauma is not acceptable."

The website that has gained the most attention during the debate is a pro-life site called igv.net. It advertises a pregnancy counseling line and lists stories from post-abortive women who regret their decisions. It also lists the different types of abortion methods along with their associated medical risks.

The website is in direct competition with the official government site ivg.gouv.fr which can be found only a few listings away when the term 'IVG' is searched for on Google. The government website states that abortion is a women's right and makes no mention of pro-life counseling or potential health risks.

Whereas it's hard to argue that ivg.net is not biased, one could make the same claim about the official government site. Indeed, pro-lifers often argue that they are forced to provide crisis pregnancy counseling because government run agencies across the western world refuse to tell women the full story or provide them with all their options.

This issue is not unique to France with lawmakers in America arguing that counseling centers should have to make it clear in their advertising and signage that they are pro-life organizations and don't refer for abortions. 

This is in-spite of the fact that there is no evidence that women are being deceived or entering counseling centers under false pretenses. 

This at least was the finding of a federal court in Boston when it overruled and declared unconstitutional a city ordinance which required crisis pregnancy centers to advertise that they don't offer abortions.

What's particularly concerning however about the proposed French law is its intention to ban or block websites it has ruled to be misleading or provide incorrect information. 

The problem is that what's true and what isn't can be a matter of opinion when it comes to complex moral and philosophical issues such as abortion. 

The fact that the government feels it needs to step in and be the arbiter of truth is a dangerous development and should worry not only Pro-lifers but all proponents of free speech.