3:11pm UK, Thursday January 10, 2002

French MPs have voted to introduce a new law, meant to counter a court ruling which gave disabled foetuses a right 'not to be born'.

SP Foetus in the womb

Last year a judge decided mentally handicapped teenager Nicolas Perruche should be compensated because doctors had failed to alert his mother to his likely disabilities, denying her the choice of an abortion.

Demeaning

The ruling has been used in other cases to sue doctors for failing to spot defects.

It has outraged handicap support groups, which say the verdict is demeaning to disabled people.

Ultrasound and pre-natal professionals began a strike this month to protest against the ruling, saying it made their job impossible and insurance premiums too high.

'No claim'

The new law, which was drafted by a liberal party leader and later endorsed by the government, states: "Nobody can claim to have been harmed simply by being born."

It means no child can sue simply for not being aborted.

The bill still has to be passed by the Senate before it becomes law.