PARIS (LifeSiteNews) — France’s Parliament has passed a controversial bill turning the so-called French “health pass” into a full-blown vaccine passport.
Unvaccinated citizens will no longer be able to present a negative COVID test in lieu of proof of vaccination to access certain premises.
The bill was passed Sunday following two weeks of heated debate within France’s two houses of Parliament. Sunday’s decisive vote at the National Assembly (France’s lower house) ended two weeks of rounds and debates. Several amendments were made, and the final version of the bill was passed with a majority of 215 votes in favor and 58 votes against.
The bill has sparked massive controversy in France, with thousands of people taking to the streets of Paris and other French cities on Saturday to oppose it. Tension between police and demonstrators led to scuffles in some places.
🔴[LIVE] #Manifestation #UnionSacrée contre le #PassVaccinal à la Tour Eiffel, à #Paris
YouTube ➡️ https://t.co/38svdV9zPB#manifs15janvier #manif15janvier #unionsacree #giletsjaunes #passvaccinnal #passsanitaire #greenpass #vaccinemandate pic.twitter.com/KZPZBY5DHR
— TV YÉ ! (@tvyefr) January 15, 2022
🔴Nouvelle mobilisation à #Paris contre le pass vaccinal comme ici avec la manifestation des #GiletsJaunes. À noter que les députés ont adopté tôt ce matin, le projet de loi transformant le #PassSanitaire en #PassVaccinal en deuxième lecture.#manifs15janvier #manifestation pic.twitter.com/fBfEhAE2H3
— Charles Baudry (@CharlesBaudry) January 15, 2022
🔻DIRECT INFO🔺 Paris : Tentions… #manifestation15janvier #GiletsJaunes #GiletJaune#antiPass #antivaxx #antivax pic.twitter.com/3PAYS3EZz0
— HORS-ZONE PRESS (@HZ_Press) January 15, 2022
Some French politicians have expressed outrage at the bill which has, ever since its introduction, exacerbated the segregation that already exists between vaccinated and unvaccinated people in France.
“We have to try everything [to fight this],” said presidential candidate Florian Philippot, leader of French nationalist party “The Patriots” on Saturday, the eve of the bill’s adoption by the National Assembly.
“If it passes, my hope is that it disappears as quickly as possible, and that those responsible be brought to justice,” he added.
The French government is hoping to start implementing the new bill as early as January 20, though some socialist MPs are planning to appeal to the French Constitutional Council, the highest constitutional authority in France, to ensure the protection of “fundamental liberties.”
According to according to RT.France, this could see the promulgation of the bill delayed by a few days
Once the bill implemented, however, French citizens will have to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter leisure venues as well as restaurants, bars, and regional public transports. Presentation of a negative COVID test will no longer be sufficient anywhere except at public health facilities.
Only a week had been planned for the debates and votes originally, but this was extended to two weeks following serious controversies, not least the words of French President Emmanuel Macron who said he wanted to “piss off” the unvaccinated. Macron also described them as “irresponsible people” who are “not citizens” on the very day that French MPs were supposed to vote on the issue of the vaccine passport.