French Senate approves bill allowing IVF for single women, lesbians

France's Senate voted on Wednesday in favour of a bill that would allow single women and lesbian couples access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF), the first major social reform of President Emmanuel Macron's term.

The bill was passed 160-116 in the Senate, where Macron's centrist party is outnumbered by right-wing Republicans. The bill is part of a broader bioethics law, which in October cleared its first reading in the National Assembly, the lower house where Macron's party commands a majority.

The law would unwind some of western Europe's strictest rules governing medically assisted pregnancies, a campaign promise of Macron.