Over the past few years, legislative protection of innocent life has been rapidly declining in France. In 2021, the French government extended the legal limit for abortions to 14 weeks, up from the previous limit of 12 weeks. In 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron made France the second country after Yugoslavia to declare abortion as a fundamental right in the constitution. On July 15th of this year, the French National Assembly is scheduled to consider a bill that would legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide.

At the same time, we are witnessing a rapidly developing young pro-life resistance speaking up against the growing culture of death. I have had the opportunity to meet and train with these leaders, many of whom have faced various difficulties in their fight to protect those dismissed or even outright targeted by modern French culture, namely the unborn, the handicapped, the sick, and the elderly, and the poor. Here are some of those heroes…

For the past 5 years, Marie-Lys Pellessier, a remarkable young woman who is also the current spokeswoman for the Marche Pour La Vie (French March For Life), has led and organized a pro-life training camp every August. Lejeune Académie, named after Dr. Jérôme Lejeune who discovered the cause of Down Syndrome, brings together young people typically between the ages of 18-27, for a week of training and networking with inspiring pro-life speakers, brilliant journalists, counselors, business leaders, and a very talented videographer.

Some of the guest speakers have included Jean-Marie Le Mène, président of the Jerome Lejeune Foundation, Maitre Triomphe, an outstanding lawyer in the pro-life movement who fought for the life of Vincent Lambert, and Dr. Hubert Tesson, who is a specialist in palliative care and has been outspoken against the current euthanasia bill.

**“If the fruits [of our work] are not at the moment legislative victories, you can be sure that they are hidden but numerous”** said Marie-Lys Pellissier at the 2025 Marche Pour La Vie.

“Every child saved is a victory! Every person convinced is a victory! Every young person trained and involved is a victory! Every Marche Pour La Vie (March for Life) is a victory that shows that we have not given up!”

The Lejeune Académie is the place where connections in the pro-life movement are formed and since its inception in 2021, many young people have been trained and have either connected with or have started Generation Pro Vie (Pro-Life Generation) groups in their cities.

Generation Pro-Vie was started around 6 years ago by the former spokeswoman of the Marche Pour La Vie, Aliette Espieux. Its presence has grown in a number of cities across France, with some of the most active groups being in Paris, Lille, Toulouse, Versailles, and Lyon, where young activists organize conferences, distribute flyers, and engage in French Style street activism (graffiti and banners). In Lyon, Paris, and just this past year Lille, they have held pro-life marches.

Marie Queran, a nurse and one of the two co-presidents of the Lille Generation Pro-Vie, explained why she chooses to be engaged in this fight despite being part of a minority on these issues.

“I fight against abortion and euthanasia because these two [societal] drifts touch on what we have that is the most precious: life. Yes life can shake us, can unsettle us and can scare us, but instead of solving these worries with abortion and euthanasia let's create a society that helps rather than destroys.”

I had the utmost pleasure of meeting Marie at the first Lejeune Académie I attended in 2024, which was held in Sees, a small town in Normandy. There, I also got to meet Géraud de Laveaucoupet.

Géraud is easily recognizable by his Magnum-PI style mustache, and he ended up being one of the best friends I made there.

Géraud has gone to essentially every Lejeune Académie and has even been a part of their official staff. On his pro life activism he explained,

“I got involved in this militancy because the subject of life is very important in my family where my father practiced as a general practitioner and my mother was a nurse…What is the goal of my militancy? Today France holds the record of the country where the greatest percentage of pregnancies end in abortion. This shows that there might be a problem of liberty for these women, to whom France doesn't propose nor promotes other solutions, and who (as a result) don't see anything other than abortion.”

Géraud really pinpoints the fact that pro life activism in France is alive and is very different in most respects from the typical American experience in activism. In the states I got my start in activism doing protests outside of abortion clinics which would be illegal in France. Those who stand up for the protection of human life engage in French style street activism which also produces strong camaraderie. These small groups throughout the country are some of the real heroes of the modern French resistance.

In 2025, I returned to the Lejeune Académie held at a Catholic school in the city of Pau in the south of France. It was here that I met Amance, a young woman who is very engaged in the Generation Pro-Vie and is now a part of the Lejeune Académie staff. She explained that she “always believed” and remains “convinced that abortion, euthanasia, and all that are false solutions to the suffering of people.” Amance is set apart from many of the other activists in that she has a family member who is directly impacted by the culture of death. Amance told me, “I have a little brother with Down Syndrome, voila, and that's what pushed me to get involved at the Lejeune Académie to help others and make young people understand the beauty of life, regardless of the difficulties that we might have, ie; a handicap and all that, and regardless of age, the beginning of life the end of life…”

Many people have chosen to write France off as a socialist godless society, but in reality there are still a large number of faithful Christians standing up for the most vulnerable. Historically, France was the first ally of the U.S. and without them we would have never gained independence from the British. Today, they need us in this multi-generational fight against the culture of death. I am proud to call these people my friends and in time, God willing, I hope we will make abortion and euthanasia unthinkable in France as well as in the rest of Europe.

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