This post summarises an article published in 2016 by the Swiss Russian-language newspaper Nasha Gazeta, which in turn drew on an investigation by the Geneva daily Le Temps.
A low rate with wide regional differences
Compared with the rest of Europe, Switzerland has a very low proportion of abortions. The article points out, however, that the rate varies considerably from canton to canton: it is lowest in the German-speaking cantons and highest in Geneva, Vaud and Neuchâtel. Swiss doctors cited in the reporting attribute the overall low figure to good sex-education programmes in schools and to family-planning information campaigns. Other factors mentioned are a certain conservatism, the persistence of cultural and moral traditions, and differences in access to medical care between cantons.
The role of doctors and local attitudes
According to the article, some gynaecologists discourage the procedure or delay it, giving patients time to reflect. Several women quoted in the original reporting described feeling judged, being referred elsewhere without an alternative, or being offered only a surgical procedure when a medical termination would still have been possible. A specialist from Lausanne observed that women with greater financial means can more easily choose a private gynaecologist who is flexible on the question.
What the statistics show
Data from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), published in June 2016, confirmed the differences between cantons. Between 2007–2010 and 2011–2014 the rate per thousand women fell by 25% in the canton of Jura, while it rose by 21% in Schaffhausen, by 18% in Valais and Nidwalden and by 17% in Neuchâtel. The FSO did not provide a detailed analysis of these changes. The article also notes that a relatively high share of abortions in Vaud and Geneva, where immigrants make up 40–50% of the population, concerns women of foreign nationality; data on nationality, however, is available only for some cantons.
History and legal framework
Abortion was legalised at federal level in Switzerland only in 2002, although doctors in some cantons had performed the procedure earlier with the tacit approval of local authorities. Since the middle of the twentieth century the Protestant cantons of Zurich, Basel, Geneva, Vaud, Bern and Neuchâtel have been the most liberal on this question, and they also recorded the highest rates in 2015. Access differs too: in Geneva the procedure can be performed in any clinic with a gynaecology department and the necessary equipment, whereas in Appenzell women must go to the cantonal hospital.
Swiss gynaecologists may also decline to perform an abortion; in St. Gallen this right is explicitly written into cantonal law. Unlike Italy, where around 70% of gynaecologists refuse on ethical grounds, Switzerland collects no statistics on this. A researcher from the University of Geneva noted that the link between local medical practice and abortion rates would merit a dedicated study in Switzerland, which has never been carried out.
Source: Nasha Gazeta
