Participating in the revision of bioethics laws: The Catholic Church’s mobilization of ecology: 2018–2020

Since 1994, bioethics laws in France have regulated various medical practices, such as assisted reproductive technology (ART). In the context of the latest revision of French bioethics laws between 2018 and 2020, the Catholic Church, seeking to participate actively in the debates, became particularly vocal regarding the extension of access to ART to lesbian couples and single women. Through a secularized discourse, the Church invoked respect for ecology, drawing on emotional registers within a broader rhetoric of anxiety.

Based on an analysis of discourse produced by and about the Catholic institution, as well as on ethnographic observations, this contribution explores how this ecological discourse is mobilized by the Catholic Church in its efforts to demonstrate that its prescriptions regarding family matters are grounded not in faith, but in a proper understanding of the mechanisms of nature.