Switzerland’s highest court has ruled against the father of an unborn child, who had sued his ex-partner for terminating pregnancy at an advanced stage.
Abortions are legal on request in Switzerland if they take place in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. If a woman has an abortion later, she may be punished with up to three years in prison unless she is deemed to be in an emergency situation.
After a man from the Swiss canton of Fribourg reported his ex-girlfriend for an abortion after 12 weeks, the public prosecutor’s office dropped the case, as doctors confirmed that the woman was in a state of psychological distress. However, the man took the case up to the level of the Federal Court. As the father of the fetus, he claimed he was a “victim” under the definition of the law.
The highest Swiss court saw things differently: it stated that the ban on late-term abortions protects the fetus, not the man involved. And because a fetus does not have legal personality before birth, the father cannot be regarded as a victim. The man from Fribourg could thus not lodge a complaint, the court said. A law professor and Amnesty International Switzerland agreed. The legal scholar said it is right that the law protects women from being pressured by their partners. The decision has also been welcomed by the umbrella organisation of Swiss men’s and fathers’ organisations. “The judgement is correct – indeed, there is no alternative,” said the group’s managing director Markus Theunert. The umbrella organisation understands the father’s wish to have a say. However, “the only way to enforce the father’s right to have a say would inevitably involve men deciding on a woman’s physical integrity” – which is unacceptable, says Theunert.
An old problem – but in Switzerland at least, the response has indeed changed!
SOURCE: SwissInfo, by Sibilla Bondolfi, SRF, 25 July 2024 ; VISUAL: Part of Fribourg Court entrance, from photo by Keystone/Laurent Gillieron