The Minister of Health, Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo, criticized for having gone to the Jérôme-Lejeune Institute, which campaigns against abortion

“My visit was part of the certification as a skills center for rare intellectual disabilities,” defended the minister, denouncing a “just gratuitous outpouring of hatred.”

The interim Minister of Health, Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo, was strongly criticized on Friday January 5, the day after her visit to the Jérôme-Lejeune Institute, attached to the controversial Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, which campaigns against abortion and euthanasia.

“Macronian progressivism has a funny taste”quipped X (ex-Twitter) the communist senator of Hauts-de-Seine Pierre Ouzoulias, denouncing this “praise” of the minister “to the Lejeune foundation, a center of conservatism, opposed to abortion and a large number of medical research”.

“Putting the spotlight on historic and determined anti-abortion and anti-marriage-for-all activists is a worrying signal from the government. The reorganization of the right continues”, wrote Boris Vallaud, the leader of the PS deputies.

“Apologize or take responsibility”

“For your information and in the face of this surge of hatred that is just gratuitous. This visit was part of the certification as a rare intellectual disability skills center”, reacted the minister to the criticism. Research centers can receive certification for their research in the field of rare diseases (intellectual disabilities of rare causes, rare epilepsies, etc.) “For those who are bothered by it, democracy also means interacting with people who do not share your ideas. In this case, I had an exchange with the health professionals of this institute about the end of life”she added.

A defense that does not go down well with socialist senator Laurence Rossignol, former Minister of Families. “Madam Minister, you honor an institute linked to a foundation whose anti-abortion, anti-morning after pill, anti-embryo research activism is constant. They harass us (trial after trial that they always lose) . So don’t act offended. Apologize or take responsibility.”, she replied on X. “Minister ready to do anything to save his morocco”, commented socialist senator Colombe Brossel.

Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo became interim Minister of Health after the resignation of Aurélien Rousseau, due to disagreement over immigration law. While rumors of a reshuffle are rife, she is weakened politically by a case of illicit gifts received within the framework of her previous functions as pharmacist.