French Judges To Decide Whether Trans-Men Eligible For Artificial Insemination

French judges of the Constitutional Council are expected to rule on whether or not a person who has transitioned from female to male will be eligible for medically assisted reproduction, which is often covered by French health insurance.

The Constitutional Council, which is based in Paris, is expected to come to a decision on whether or not transmen qualify for medically assisted reproduction treatments on July 8th, following a hearing that took place earlier this week.

Currently, women who transition to men and change their gender to male in the French civil registry are considered men and are not eligible for the treatment under the law, which is only granted to male and female couples, female couples and single women, Nice-Matin reports.

The activist group Information and Action Group on Reproductive and Sexual Issues (GIAPS) are behind the case as their lawyer Magaly Lhotel explained that the current eligibility criteria “undermines the principle of equality between women and men,” arguing that some men in the civil registry have a uterus.

Spain’s Socialist Govt Grants Free IVF to Transgenders, Lesbians, Single Women https://t.co/wAb4zBZPUq

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Antoine Pavageau, a representative of the French government, however, argued that the GIAPS request to change the criteria of eligibility would be “recognizing a new sexual category, male for civil status, and female for access to medical assistance in procreation.”

“Certainly, transgender men who have changed their civil status are excluded but it is not a discrimination related to their sexual orientation or their status,” Pavageau said and noted that transgender men can still access medically assisted procreation if they are in a relationship with a woman.

Other European countries, such as Spain, have already granted transgender individuals the ability to receive medically assisted reproduction services, a measure that had long been demanded by LGBT groups in the country and was granted in November of last year.

Uge Sangil, the president of Spain’s federation of LGBTQ+ rights’ groups, celebrated the move saying, “Let no one doubt that expanding reproductive rights is expanding human rights.”

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.