After the French National Assembly approved a bill to outlaw
websites spreading misinformation about abortion, the country's right-wing MPs
and rights activists voiced protest against what they describe as an
infringement on their freedom of speech, according to Sputnik France.
Saturday saw the French National Assembly passing a law to ban
anti-abortion websites which claim to provide neutral information but in fact
pressure women not to terminate pregnancies, Sputnik France reported.
The proposal, which is yet to be backed by the Senate on
December 7, would criminalize websites that deliberately mislead, intimidate or
"exert psychological or moral pressure" on a woman seeking
information about terminating a pregnancy, according to the Guardian. The
punishment is up to two years in prison and a 30,000-euro fine. Commenting on
the matter, Laurence Rossignol, France's Minister for Families, Children and
Women's Rights, was quoted by Sputnik France as saying that that "everyone
is free to express his opposition to abortion providing that they do so
absolutely fairly because freedom of speech must not be confused with the mind
manipulation."
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