Abortion should always be a criminal offence

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Terminating a pregnancy should remain a criminal offense in Switzerland. The National Council has rejected the removal of abortion from the Penal Code. He said on Tuesday with a narrow majority no to a parliamentary initiative by the Greens National Councilor Léonore Porchet (33) in Vaud.

In a parliamentary initiative, Porchet demanded that abortion be removed from the penal code and treated primarily as a health issue. The National Council Legal Committee requested a no; the council now followed her with 99 votes in favour, 91 against and 6 abstentions.

The National Council called for a special law

This means that the initiative is off the table. Porchet suggested that the current time-limit regulation be legislated, either in a special law, sexual health law, or public health law. The Penal Code should be amended accordingly.

Although there is a right to terminate a pregnancy in Switzerland, terminations of pregnancy are treated as a criminal case, Porchet justified the initiative. This means that an abortion is essentially a reprehensible criminal case and only secondarily a health decision.

The majority of the committee argued that there has been no criminal prosecution in Switzerland for some 20 years in connection with the termination of a pregnancy. The time limit rule in place – impunity until the twelfth week if an emergency is invoked – has proven its worth.

You want to keep to the deadline

The term arrangement is a recognized compromise, said group chairman Philipp Matthias Bregy (44) of Mitte. If this system is broken now, “we will bring new emotions to a subject that has long been de-emotionalized”. He warned against sending a signal for an always unpunished abortion.

The minority, on the other hand, believed that including abortion in the Penal Code could stigmatize and blame women at difficult moments in their lives. With the National Council saying no, the initiative is now off the table. (lha)

Source:Blick