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SWISS REFERENDUM

EXPLAINED: What Switzerland’s ‘organ donation’ vote means for you

On May 15th, Swiss voters will decide, along with two other issues, on whether to approve the government’s plan of “presumed consent” in organ transplants. This is what you should know.

Published: 5 May 2022 13:40 CEST
Updated: 15 May 2022 06:56 CEST
Surgeons during an operation. Switzerland's waiting list for replacement organs is long.Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Surgeons during an operation. Switzerland's waiting list for replacement organs is long.Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

In the second of four rounds of national referendums scheduled for 2022, the Swiss will go to the polls on May 15 to decide on three issues, including one that would, if passed, improve people’s chances of receiving a donor organ in Switzerland. 

The proposal changes the existing law in favour of ‘presumed consent’ for organ donation. 

 At least this is what the Federal Council and the Parliament claim in their support of the transplant /organ donation law.

This is what’s at stake

As elsewhere, the number of people needing transplants in Switzerland far exceeds the number of available organs.

According to data from Swisstransplant, an organisation mandated by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) to maintain the waiting list of organ recipients and to allocate the organs as they become available, 1462 patients are still waiting for at least one organ. Only 587 people were able to receive transplants, while 72 died while waiting for organs to become available.

As the law stands today, “a transplant is only possible if the deceased person has consented to the donation during his or her lifetime”, the Federal Council explains on its website.

“However, the wish of the person concerned is often unknown. It is then up to the relatives to decide. In the majority of cases, they are against organ donation”.

What is the government proposing?

To increase patients’ chances of receiving an organ, the Federal Council and the Parliament want to amend this legislation to allow collection of organs from any deceased person who did not make their opposition to being a donor known during their lifetime.

“If a person has not objected, it is assumed that they are willing to donate their organs”, authorities said.

READ MORE: How Switzerland’s direct democracy system works

In other words, anyone who does not wish to donate their organs after their death will now have to indicate this explicitly.

Nevertheless, under the proposed law, the relatives of the deceased can refuse organ donation “if they know or suspect that the person concerned would have chosen not to do so. If no relatives can be contacted, no organs may be removed”.

Who is against this law?

A committee composed of various political parties and religious groups argues that  “a conscious and clear ‘yes’ is necessary for any medical intervention. It is inadmissible that this explicit yes is no longer necessary for organ donation”.

Organ donations are only ethically justifiable if the person concerned has given his or her explicit consent during his lifetime, the committee added.

What are the chances of the proposed law to be approved by voters?

According to the latest poll, which  Switzerland’s largest media group, Tamedia, released on Wednesday, 61 percent of survey participants said they would approve the law, while 37 percent would reject it.

Those in favour “believe that sick people would have a better chance of receiving a healthy organ, because the principle of presumed consent would make it possible to increase the number of donors”, Tamedia said.

Opponents, on the other hand, “argue that actively undermining bodily integrity is unethical and even unconstitutional”.
 
What else will the Swiss vote on May 15th?

The two other issues on the ballot are The Film Act (dubbed ‘Lex Netflix), as well as support for European border guards (Frontex).

You can read about them here:

What is the ‘Netflix vote’ and how could it change TV in Switzerland?

Frontex: How Switzerland’s ‘border vote’ on May 15th could impact travel

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SWISS REFERENDUM

‘Historic step’: What to know about Geneva’s plan to extend parental leave

Geneva residents have voted for a 24-week paid leave package for new parents — the first Swiss canton to do so.

Published: 20 June 2023 12:25 CEST
‘Historic step’: What to know about Geneva's plan to extend parental leave

Nearly 58 percent of the canton’s voters on Sunday June 18th greenlighted the proposal put forward by the Green Liberal Party to grant new parents a paid leave that is six weeks longer than the current (cumulative) period allowed by the law (read more about this below).

“It is an immense joy, a historic progressive step,” Aurélien Barakat, president of the Geneva Green Liberals, said on social media after the results of the vote emerged. 

However, the new legislation must still be approved by the parliament during its autumn session, so the victory at the polls is still tentative at this point.

What would the new law provide for?

In short, it would give new parents in the canton — including homosexual couples and adoptive parents — more time at home with their baby.

Currently, Geneva mothers get 16 weeks of leave (versus 14 weeks provided for by federal law), while fathers benefit from two weeks — the same period as in other cantons.

Under the new law — should it be accepted by the parliament — new parents will benefit from six more weeks at home with their baby.

This leave can be taken either at the same time by both parents for a total of 24 weeks for the two, or one of the parents can grant two weeks of their own allowance to the other, by mutual agreement. In other words, this scheme allows some flexibility.

These additional weeks are to be financed by a joint contribution from employees and employers.

Not everyone, however, is happy about the vote’s results.

“With the approval of this constitutional provision, the purchasing power of the population will decline due to the increase in joint contributions,” toward the parental leave, the Geneva section of the right wing Swiss People’s Party (UDC) said in a statement. 

What is the situation elsewhere in the country?

Parental leave allowances in Switzerland are lagging behind many other European nations. 

The reason is that the country has a strong history of individual responsibility, which promotes the idea that the state (or employer) should not pay for people choosing to have children.

Mothers here are entitled to 14 weeks leave and fathers to two.

During the 14-week (or 98-day) leave of absence, mothers in Switzerland are entitled to be paid 80 percent of their salary, up to a maximum of 196 francs a day.

But while the paid maternity leave was established in Switzerland in 2005 — years later than in the EU — fathers had to wait much longer to get that same (though more time- limited) right.

That changed on September 27th, 2020, when 60 percent of Swiss voters decided in favour of a two-weeks paternity leave.

As far as compensation, fathers can receive a maximum of 2,744 Swiss francs during their two weeks of leave with the money to be paid under the state-run compensation scheme. 

READ ALSO: What parental leave are new parents entitled to in Switzerland?

All this shows why Geneva’s move is truly pioneering for Switzerland, although it is still far behind the benefits accorded to new parents in other countries — in France, for instance, new mothers are entitled to receive up to 26 weeks of leave, and in Sweden both parents can benefit from 480 days off.

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