Yesterday, in Switzerland, the Council of States (Senate) adopted a motion put forward by socialist, Pascale Bruderer, calling for a toughening up of prenatal diagnostic requirements in order to rule out gender-selective abortions.
Prenatal tests carried out before the 12th week of pregnancy, allowing anomalies to be detected –“primarily aimed at detecting Down syndrome”-, also reveal the child’s gender. Given compliance with the legal timescale for abortions, those in favour of this legislation fear that abortions will be carried out for undisclosed reasons. For others, legislation for this issue is not realistic given the fact that non-invasive tests are carried out abroad from the 9th week of pregnancy (NIPS), which makes it complicated to introduce any legislation.
The National Council (National Assembly) has yet to make a statement. The Federal Council (Government) has stated that it is ready to launch a debate on this subject with no promises that the debate will be upheld by legislation.
Tribune de Genève 16/09/2014 – RTS Info 16/09/2014