Senate lifts restrictions on IVF embryo screenings
Parliament has decided in principle to ease restrictions on embryo screenings as part of a reform of the law on reproductive medicine.
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Urs Geiser, swissinfo.ch and agencies
Despite opposition by the government, the Senate on Monday followed the House of Representatives in allowing screenings of all in vitro embryos.
It is estimated that more than 1,000 couples a year might use the option. In March, the Senate wanted to limit embryo diagnostics to cases with suspected genetic diseases.
Opponents warned that the decision might lead to increased pressure on couples who use this type of artificial reproductive technology – a total of about 6,000 on average annually – to have embryos tested and destroy embryos with disorders.
Supporters argued it was not fair to permit screenings of embryos in wombs, while imposing restrictions on in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
Discussions in parliament are likely continue later this year to define the maximum number of IVF embryos.
Voters will have the final say on the constitutional amendment at a later date.
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Switzerland treads cautiously on embryo law
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In the area of medically assisted reproduction in general, Switzerland tends to have much stricter legislation than what was adopted 10 to 20 years ago by most European countries. Because of the demands of the direct democracy system – the necessary seal of approval from voters – Swiss parliamentarians must try to seek consensus solutions.…
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Couples with certain serious hereditary disorders who use in vitro fertilisation (IVF) should be allowed to screen embryos prior to implantation and discard any which inherit a disorder, the cabinet said in a statement on Friday. This procedure – currently forbidden in Switzerland – is ethically controversial because embryos with certain conditions or qualities could…
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Some 6,300 couples sought fertility treatments and 10,400 cycles of treatment were initiated. Of this number, 2,250 resulted in pregnancies, with almost one in four ending in miscarriage. The final number of children born from these pregnancies reached 1,891 from 1,628 births, 30 per cent of whom were twins. There were two sets of triplets.…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.