Abortion legislation
Legal conditions
- Written consent by the woman
- Pre-abortion consultation (legal counselling)
Specific conditions for minors
- Pre-abortion specific counselling with a certified physician (“kantonsarzt”) for minors under 16
- Parent’s (or guardian’s) consent required for minors under 16 incapable of discernment only.
Source:
Practical conditions
Mandatory pre-abortion examinations
- None
Involved healthcare professionals
- Surgical abortion: obstetrician/gynaecologist (OB/GYN) or another physician
- Medical abortion: OB/GYN or another physician
Source:
Abortion statistics
Overall number of induced abortions
Source: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/fr/home/statistiques/sante/etat-sante/reproductive/interruptions-grossesses.html
Abortion ratio per 1.000 live births: 121 (2021)
Source: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/fr/home/statistiques/sante/etat-sante/reproductive/interruptions-grossesses.html
Abortions performed “on request”: % ()
Source:
Overall number of induced abortions vs. medical abortions
Source: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/fr/home/statistiques/sante/etat-sante/reproductive/interruptions-grossesses.html
Induced abortions per gestational age (2021)
Source: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/fr/home/statistiques/sante/etat-sante/reproductive/interruptions-grossesses.assetdetail.22906250.html
Place of abortion ()
Unfortunately we have no data for this country.Source:
Characteristics of women having induced abortion
In 2021, among women who had induced abortion:
- 98% lived in Switzerland
Source:
Fertility and contraception
Women age at first birth
- 32,3 years of age (2021)
Overall contraception data
- Contraceptive prevalence rate was 780*/1,000 women aged 15-49 in 2017
- use of oral contraceptive: 270*/1,000
- use of intra-uterine device (IUD): 117*/1,000
* in the last 12 months, sexually active
Pre-abortion contraception
- In 2016, 58%** of women who had abortion had a contraceptive method before abortion procedure.
** data available for 21% of the performed abortions
Contraception during abortion process (2016)
- 94%** of women had a contraceptive method prescribed during abortion process
- 39%** of women had a Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) prescribed during abortion process
** data available for 21% of the performed abortions
- IUDs and implants can be placed in abortion facilities.
Source:
Country-specific characteristics
A special thanks to our correspondents for contributing in data collection.
Please contact info@exelgyn.com if you have additional data or would like to comment information
Page last updated: 4 July 2023