French MPs approve contested ban on paying for sex

French lawmakers passed a controversial law that makes it illegal to pay for sex and imposes fines of up to 3,750 euros ($4,270) on prostitutes' clients. Around 60 sex workers staged a noisy protest outside parliament during the final debate on the bill that will affect the livelihoods of at least 30,000 prostitutes in France, four in five of whom are foreign. Backed by the Socialist government, the legislation has been nearly two and a half years in the making.