A minister from the Catholic right at the helm of France’s major assisted suicide debate? At the age of 53, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo defined herself as “baptized and having received communion.” This vivacious woman, with her short bob and tortoiseshell glasses, is responsible for preparing a part of what is being presented as the great societal reform of Emmanuel Macron’s second five-year term.
Less in the limelight than Olivier Véran, who will head the citizens’ convention, the minister in charge of territorial organization and health professions will orchestrate consultations with doctors, caregivers, patients and parliamentarians from each political group. In her office on Avenue de Ségur, hangs a black and white portrait of Simone Veil from 1974 – her inspiration. The only cheerful touch is a box of candy and marshmallow bears, a guilty pleasure that sweetens the harshness of the issues she must address.
As far back as she could remember, Ms. Firmin Le Bodo has always been on the right, like her father, Claude, a local politician in Le Havre (Seine-Maritime). As a 15-year-old teenager, she joined the RPR (former name of the Les Républicains, LR party) and followed her mentor, Antoine Rufenacht, who won the mayor’s office after 30 years of communist rule. She was elected substitute MP in 1997, the first of many terms. She joined the city council of Le Havre together with a certain Edouard Philippe – “a Juppéist (referring to former prime minister Alain Juppé) long before his time,” she said, with a smile. In 2010, she became his deputy mayor. Former Prime Minister Philippe described her as the “first ally.” He slipped her name to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne for the composition of the government, five years after having encouraged her to run for the legislative elections of 2017, under the label Les Républicains (LR). She is now spokesperson for Horizons, the new party created by the man she simply calls “Edouard.”
As a child, Ms. Firmin Le Bodo was immersed in the world of disabilities. She lived in the house of her father, who managed a specialized education establishment, and of her mother, Nicole, director of a medico-educational institution. She went through private schooling, from kindergarten to high school. If she missed mass on Sunday, it was for figure skating championships. That passion ended when she started studying pharmacy. She opened a pharmacy, married a doctor and had a son with him, again raised in the Catholic faith. Not surprisingly, she was always “against” societal developments, including assisted reproduction (“PMA, procréation médicalement assistée”). That was just the way it was. “In fact, I had never asked myself the question,” she said.
You have 67.32% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Read the full article here
