On 9 June 2024, the Swiss people will express their opinion on the popular initiative «For freedom and physical integrity.
In spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic reached Switzerland. In order to protect the population and avoid overloading the healthcare system, in particular hospitals, the Federal Council has adopted some drastic measures. At the same time, researchers around the world have begun developing vaccines against the new virus. Large segments of the population have placed great expectations on these vaccines and on vaccination as a means to emerge from the pandemic, while others have opposed it. It is in this political and social context that this initiative was promoted in autumn 2020.
According to the promoters of the initiative, interventions that affect the physical or psychological integrity of a person must be carried out only if they have given their consent. The right to physical and mental integrity is already enshrined in the Federal Constitution today. This fundamental right protects the body from interference by the state. Furthermore, the initiative demands that no one be punished or penalized for refusing to give consent. The text of the initiative does not speak of “vaccinations”, but rather in general of “interventions in physical or mental integrity”, thus including in principle any act of the Confederation, the Cantons and the Municipalities which affects the human body, such as police activities and execution of sentences. If the initiative were accepted, the concrete consequences would depend on the implementation methods and jurisprudence.
Recommendation of the Federal Council and Parliament
The Federal Council and Parliament reject the initiative because its main objective, namely respect for physical integrity, is already enshrined in the Constitution as a fundamental right. Already today no one can be vaccinated without his consent. Furthermore, the consequences of the initiative, for example for judicial and police activities, are unclear.
Recommendation of the initiative committee
According to the initiative committee, it is about continuing to be able to decide freely about one’s own body. In fact, the committee believes that the body represents the last bastion of freedom and that human beings are free only if they can determine what is introduced into their bodies. In his opinion, politics cannot be relied on in this regard.
Tags: Initiative freedom physical integrity
