Xavier Dor (30 January 1929 – 4 April 2020) was a French embryologist, known for his activism against abortions.

Personal life

Dor was born into a Catholic family. His father was the director of the

Compagnie Générale Transatlantique The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, and commonly named "Transat"), typically known overseas as the French Line, was a French shipping company. Established in 1855 by the Péreire brothers, brothers Émile and Issac Péreire under the ...

. He had four children with his wife, Françoise Dugé de Bernonville, daughter of

Jacques de Bernonville Count Jacques Charles Noel Dugé de Bernonville (December 20, 1897 – April 26, 1972) was a French collaborationist and senior police officer in the Milice of the Vichy regime in France. He was known to hunt down and execute French resistance ...

. Dor was a doctor specializing in embryology and practiced at the

Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital (french: Hôpital universitaire la Pitié-Salpêtrière, ) is a teaching hospital in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Part of the and a teaching hospital of Sorbonne University. History The Salpêtriè ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He was also a researcher in cardiac embryology at Inserm and a lecturer at

Pierre and Marie Curie University Pierre and Marie Curie University (french: link=no, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, UPMC), also known as Paris 6, was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussi ...

. Dor died on 4 April 2020 in Paris from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

at age 91 during the

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

Anti-abortion activism

Dor was the founder and president of the ''SOS tout-petits'' association. He often led protests in front of hospitals which carried out abortions. He participated in several dozen of these protests. According to Neil Datta, leader of the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights, Dor was the French representative of the first generation anti-abortion activists, who appeared in the 1980s and 90s after Western countries such as

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

legalized abortion. This movement did not achieve its ultimate goal, which was to overturn the legalization of abortion; but Dor said "even on my deathbed, I will continue" his fight against abortion. Dor took part in the

March for Life March for Life may refer to: * March for Life (Washington, D.C.), an annual anti-abortion gathering held in Washington, D.C. * March for Life (Paris), an annual demonstration held in Paris protesting abortion * March for Life (Prague), an annual ...

in Paris on 22 January 2017. He stayed at Denfert-Rochereau at the end of the march, leading a prayer to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

. He was joined by Alain Escada and a priest in taking part in the prayer. He left ''SOS tout-petits'' in January 2018. He was succeeded by Dr. Philippe Piloquet, an embryologist at the

University of Nantes The University of Nantes (french: Université de Nantes) is a public university located in the city of Nantes, France. In addition to the several campuses scattered in the city of Nantes, there are two satellite campuses located in Saint-Nazaire a ...

Legal issues

Dor was charged with eleven different crimes throughout his life, most of which coming after the Neiertz Law passed in 1993, which made obstruction of abortion a crime. In 2014, he was charged with "moral and psychological pressure" on a woman who was planning on terminating her pregnancy by giving her knitted slippers and a medal representing the Virgin Mary. The

Court of Appeal of Paris The Court of Appeal of Paris (french: Cour d'appel de Paris) is the largest appeals court in France in terms of the number of cases brought before it. Its jurisdiction covers the departments of Paris, Essonne, Yonne, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint- ...

acquitted him of these crimes, and fined him €10,000 for obstructing abortion, €5,000 of which was suspended.

Books

*''Le Crime contre Dieu'' (1998) *''Le Livre blanc de l'avortement en France, chap 8, collectif 30 ans, ça suffit'' (2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dor, Xavier 1929 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France French Roman Catholics French anti-abortion activists French embryologists Physicians from Marseille