Christine Boutin (born on February 6, 1944 (1944-02-06) (age 65)) is a French politician and one of the major figures of the religious right in France. As of 2007, she has been elected deputy to the French National Assembly for the Yvelines département but has not taken part in the Assembly because she has been minister for urban development since the election of Nicolas Sarkozy. She was a candidate in the 2002 French presidential election, in which she scored 1.19% on the first round of balloting.

 

As a strong voice for social conservatism, Boutin is the leader of the Forum des républicains sociaux (Forum of Social Republicans, FRS), a French conservative Christian-democratic faction of the greater right-wing UMP union party, led by Nicolas Sarkozy.

 

 Biography

 

Boutin was born in Levroux, Indre.

 

In 1993, Boutin founded the anti-abortion NGO Alliance pour les droits de la vie (ADV), considered the largest pro-life organization in France. The same year, she became a consultant for the Pontifical Council for the Family headed by Cardinal Lopez-Trujillo.

 

In 1998, Boutin became somewhat famous because of her opposition to the PACS domestic partnership plan, arguing that its adoption by the government would encourage homosexuality.

 

In 2002, Boutin who had been a member of the UDF party, joined the UMP when it was founded.

 

In 2006, Boutin supported the "global license" flat-fee authorization for sharing of copyrighted files over the Internet in a heated parliamentary debate on the DADVSI law.[citation needed] She also has been an advocate for a guaranteed minimum income[citation needed], as well as expanded housing rights (Droit au logement). She has considered the situation of prisons in France to be a scandal and has argued for a drastic reduction of inmates as well as improving their life-conditions.[citation needed]

 

In December 2006, Boutin announced that she would not be a candidate for the 2007 French Presidential election and pledged her support for the Conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy.

 

On 18 May 2007, after Sarkozy's victory in the presidential election, Boutin was named Minister of Housing and the City in the government of Prime Minister François Fillon. She has taken as advisors the pro-life activist Christine de Chefdebien, controversial for a 1992 anti-abortion occupation of a hospital, the priest Jean-Marie Petitclerc and the traditionalist Catholic Jean-Paul Bolufer, formed by La Cité Catholique group and close to the Opus Dei.— Bolufer was forced to resign in December 2007 after that the Canard enchaîné revealed that he was the beneficiary of unwarranted favors, renting his flat significantly below market levels.

 

Boutin took a more liberal view on condom use in Africa to prevent AIDS, saying that contraceptives were necessary, appearing to contradict an earlier view by Pope Benedict XVI. She has however been critical of contraception outside of the AIDS context in Africa.

 

 9/11

 

In a November 2006 interview, published in 2007, Boutin stated that George W. Bush might have been behind the September 11, 2001 attacks. When asked if she believed that the Bush administration was behind the 9/11 attacks, Boutin replied:

 

    "I think that it's possible... I think it is possible. I think it more especially as I know that the sites that speak of this problem are the sites that have the greatest numbers of visits.... And so, I tell myself, I who am extremely sensitive ... to the new techniques of information and communication, that this expression of the mass of the people cannot be without any truth. I'm not telling you that I adhere to that position, but let's say that, nevertheless, I'm questioning myself a bit on this question."

 

 Political functions

 

Governmental function

 

Minister of Housing and Urban : Since 2007

 

Electoral mandates

 

Member of the National Assembly of France for Yvelines : 1986-2007 (Became minister in 2007)

 

Deputy-mayor of Rambouillet : 1983-2001

 

Municipal councillor of Auffragis : 1977-1980

 

Mayor of Auffragis : 1980-1983

 

General councillor of Yvelines : 1982-1994

 

Vice-president of the General Council of Yvelines : Since 1994