(Getty)

French lesbians will be able to get pregnant through artificial insemination next year, according to the government.

An influential ethics panel recommended in June that medically assisted procreation be extended to include lesbian couples.

President Emmanuel Macron also voiced his support for the move, with his government promising that it would turn this policy decision into a law.

And now, Marlene Schiappa, the minister for gender equality, has vowed to make this pledge a reality in 2018.

Speaking to French channel BFM TV, she said that getting this legislation passed was “a matter of social justice,” Reuters has reported.

“It was a campaign promise. It will be honoured,” she added, explaining that it is likely to go through Parliament next year.

Legislation at the moment means that lesbians who have enough money often travel to countries like Belgium, Britain and Spain to be inseminated.

And those who cannot afford such journeys simply aren’t able to have a child in this way.

Schiappa said this was unjust.

The procedure is currently only available to straight couples in France.

SOS Homophobie, a French LGBT group, called for the law to be passed as soon as possible, rather than waiting for next year.

In a letter printed in Le Monde, the organisation called it “a health emergency for women.”

The group added that this was “not a question of ethics but of emancipation, women’s rights, equal rights and the fight against discrimination.”

Waiting until next year meant “running the risk of seeing a wave of homophobia and hatred in the country that we do not want to see again.”

In 2013, when France was in the process of legislating marriage and adoption for same-sex couples, violent marches were repeatedly seen in Paris.

Around 300,000 people marched against equal marriage in March 2013, where protesters scuffled with police.

Even after it was passed, rallies were held where homophobic protesters threw stones, bottles, and iron bars.