Putting an finish to a requirement from an outdated age. This week, the National Assembly should study a invoice geared toward placing an finish to marital obligation. Although non-existent within the civil code, authorized vagueness nonetheless surrounds this notion which states that husbands (and particularly wives) should have common sexual relations after marriage. In a spirit of clarification, the environmentalist deputy for Rhône Marie-Charlotte Garin and the president of the Horizons group, Paul Christophe, tabled a invoice in early December 2025 with the intention to “guarantee that consent remains the primary condition of any sexual act, including in the marital sphere”.
The textual content, co-signed by 136 elected officers, from the correct to the Communist Party, notably offers for an addition to article 215 of the civil code which offers that spouses “bind each other to a community of life”. “Many people still wrongly consider that community of life is equivalent to community of bed”deplores Marie-Charlotte Garin. Thanks to the proposed legislation, the finished article would specify that this neighborhood of life “does not create any obligation for spouses to have sexual relations.”
You have 75.67% of this text left to learn. The relaxation is reserved for subscribers.
https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2026/01/27/l-assemblee-nationale-veut-mettre-fin-au-devoir-conjugal_6664246_823448.html