Claude Évin (born 29 June 1949) is a French politician and lawyer. He was first elected in 1978. Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament, Claude Évin was the

deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

, a post he held until 1989. In his lengthy career, he held a variety of positions including Vice President of the National Assembly (1986–87); Minister for Health (1988–91) and Minister for Social Affairs (1988–91). As Minister for Health, he proposed the French alcohol and tobacco policy law, now known as

Loi Évin The loi Évin (; formally: "", Law 91-32 of 10 January 1991 relative to the struggle against tobacco consumption and alcoholism) is the French alcohol and tobacco policy law passed in 1991. It takes its name from Claude Évin, then Minister of He ...

, to the parliament (Law 91-32 of 10 January 1991). Since being replaced as an MP for

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population o ...

Marie-Odile Bouillé Marie-Odile Bouillé (born 13 October 1950 in Nantes) was a member of the National Assembly of France. She represented Loire-Atlantique's 8th constituency from 2007 to 2017 as a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche ...

, he has moved to chairing the French Hospital Federation (FHF). Évin is also notable for mandating the drug company

Roussel Uclaf Roussel Uclaf S.A. was a French pharmaceutical company and one of several predecessor companies of today's Sanofi. It was the second largest French pharmaceutical company before it was acquired by Hoechst AG of Frankfurt, Germany in 1997, with p ...

to resume the distribution of

mifepristone Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, is a medication typically used in combination with misoprostol to bring about a medical abortion during pregnancy and manage early miscarriage. This combination is 97% effective during the first 63 days of p ...

, an abortifactant, two days after the company's board voted 16–4 to discontinue its distribution due to concerns of the image of the company's majority-owner. This was regarding a negative public image related to the popular anti-abortion sentiments of France in the late 1980s. He stated "I could not permit the abortion debate to deprive women of a product that represents medical progress. From the moment government approval for the drug was granted, RU-486 became the moral property of women, not just the property of a drug company."

References

1949 births Living people Government spokespersons of France Socialist Party (France) politicians Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Politicians from Pays de la Loire People from Loire-Atlantique French Ministers of Health {{France-politician-Socialist-stub