The conservative Senate sought to water down the draft bill, but the lower house — the left-leaning National Assembly — had the final say | Francois Guillot/AFP via Getty Images France to sanction ‘misleading’ anti-abortion websites The new law extends existing punishments for interfering with abortion to the internet, and offers a counterpoint to Trump.

French lawmakers Thursday passed a new law sanctioning websites that aim to dissuade women from terminating a pregnancy by using "misleading claims" on abortion.

In its own controversial way, the Socialist government is offering a counterpoint to Donald Trump’s move to reinstate the U.S.'s global gag rule. A Dutch-led funding initiative to support family planning worldwide has also been gaining traction.

Yet in France, too, the months-long debate has been heated. The center-right opposition protested the government’s bill, saying it violates freedom of expression. The Catholic Church also chimed in with opposition in November, when the head of the Conference of Bishops wrote to President François Hollande asking him to block the process.

The conservative Senate sought to water down the draft bill, but the lower house — the left-leaning National Assembly — had the final say, and lawmakers adopted the law by a show of hands on Thursday morning, AFP reported.

“Obstruction to abortion” has already been a crime in France, and the new law applies the existing punishment — up to two years in prison and a €30,000 fine — to online activity.

Laurence Rossignol, the minister for women’s rights, said activists would still be free to voice their opposition to abortion, as long as it is “under the condition they openly state who they are, what they do and what they want,” according to AFP.

Health Minister Marisol Touraine has argued the bill was made necessary by recent attacks against the right to abortion, and a “cultural backdrop that tends to make women feel guilty when they consider terminating a pregnancy.”

The center-right Les Républicains party has vowed to challenge the law all the way to the Constitutional Council. Lawmaker Christian Kert, speaking on behalf of the party, said just before the vote that the law would threaten freedom of expression and equate to “government censorship.”

France first banned interference with abortion in its penal code back in 1993. Back then, the move aimed to crack down on pro-life “commandos” who stormed hospitals to protest against the abortions being performed.

In recent years, the pressures moved online.

When you search on Google for the French term for abortion (IVG), the first website listed is the government’s official information portal. But the second website listed, which looks just as professional and even provides a toll-free number to call for advice, is actually managed by activists seeking to talk women out of getting an abortion.

A French comedian recently called that number, purporting to discuss his girlfriend’s abortion plans. “She will have nightmares, anxiety, spams. She will wonder why she needs to smoke a pack of cigs each day and needs to have a glass of whiskey at night,” the veiled activist warned him, in a raucous recording aired on public radio.

The Huffington Post reported last year that the ministry had resorted to paying for better placement on Google so it would come up first, ahead of the unofficial, anti-abortion website.

Alain Bensoussan, a lawyer specializing in digital law, said in an interview that the new legislation would only concern French-language websites targeting French women. Their director of publication would be the person liable.

"It will be up to the judge to establish whether the website indeed targets French women," he said. "Every site must have a head of publication. That person will be liable."

Bensoussan drew a parallel with legislation sanctioning websites showing child pornography or encouraging jihadist militancy. “The digital world is increasingly being brought into line with the real world,” he said.

The operators of the anti-abortion website targeted by the law mocked it on Twitter with a cartoon that cast them as martyrs, jailed for saving the lives of children.

#delitdentraveivg @laurossignol CELA PEUT SERVIR DE SYNTHESE A TOUT CE CIRQUE DELIRANT ; Prochaine étape : le conseil constitutionnel ! pic.twitter.com/g8N28Uw3y2 — IVG (@ivg_infos) February 16, 2017