French Public Health Code
In forceI.-Voluntary termination of a pregnancy may be carried out at any time if two doctors who are members of a multidisciplinary team certify, after this team has given its advisory opinion, either that continuing the pregnancy would seriously endanger the woman's health, or that there is a strong probability that the unborn child will suffer from a particularly serious condition recognised as incurable at the time of diagnosis.
When termination of pregnancy is envisaged on the grounds that continuing the pregnancy would seriously endanger the woman's health, the multidisciplinary team responsible for examining the woman's request includes at least one doctor qualified in gynaecology-obstetrics who is a member of a multidisciplinary prenatal diagnosis centre, a practitioner specialising in the condition from which the woman suffers, a doctor or midwife chosen by the woman and a qualified person bound by professional secrecy, who may be a social worker or psychologist. The doctor qualified in obstetrics and gynaecology and the doctor qualified in the treatment of the woman's condition must work in a health establishment.
When termination of pregnancy is envisaged on the grounds that there is a strong probability that the unborn child will be affected by a particularly serious condition recognised as incurable at the time of diagnosis, the multidisciplinary team responsible for examining the woman's request is that of a multidisciplinary prenatal diagnosis centre. When the team from the aforementioned centre meets, a doctor or midwife chosen by the woman may, at her request, be involved in the consultation.
II -When it makes it possible to reduce the risks of a pregnancy whose multiple nature endangers the health of the woman, the embryos or the foetuses, the voluntary partial termination of a multiple pregnancy may be carried out before the end of the twelfth week of pregnancy if two doctors, who are members of a multidisciplinary team responsible for examining the woman's request, certify, after this team has given its advisory opinion, that the medical conditions, in particular obstetric and psychological conditions, have been met. The multi-disciplinary team responsible for examining the woman's request is that of a multi-disciplinary prenatal diagnosis centre having requested, if necessary, the opinion of a doctor qualified in psychiatry or, failing this, a psychologist. When the team from the aforementioned centre meets, a doctor or midwife chosen by the woman may, at her request, be involved in the consultation. No criteria relating to the characteristics of the embryos or foetuses, including their sex, may be taken into account for the partial voluntary termination of a multiple pregnancy.
III - In the cases provided for in I and II, prior to the meeting of the competent multidisciplinary team, the woman concerned or the couple may, at her request, be heard by all or some of the members of the said team.
