This week, Switzerland’s federal court rejected a man’s case against his ex-girlfriend, who had undergone a late stage abortion, reported SRF.
Abortions are legal in Switzerland if they take place in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. If a woman has an abortion later, except in cases where her health is at risk, she faces punishment of up to three years in prison.
This case involved a man in the canton of Fribourg who notified the authorities that his ex-girlfriend had undergone a late-term abortion. He then pursued the case via the Swiss court system arguing that as the father of the aborted foetus, he was a victim under the law.
However, Switzerland’s highest court rejected the man’s argument. It reasoned that abortion laws are aimed at protecting the unborn child and not the father. In addition, the court argued that because a foetus does not have a legal personality, the father cannot be considered a relative of the victim.
A law professor at the University of Basel told SRF that a child’s father is in a weak position. The mother has sole responsibility for deciding.
Markus Theunert, who heads the Swiss Institute for Men’s and Gender Issues, an organisation focused on eliminating the discrimination against fathers after separation, welcomed the court’s decision, describing it as just. There is no other conclusion, according to Theunert. Giving fathers a say in such matters would allow them to decide on the bodily integrity of women, something unacceptable, in his view.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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