Geneva voters to decide on free contraception for all

Voters in the Swiss canton of Geneva will decide on September 27 whether the canton should provide contraceptives free of charge to everyone, SRF reports. The initiative is backed by left-wing parties and organisations, which want Geneva to become a model for free contraception across Switzerland.

Campaigners are promoting the proposal under the slogan “Sex is not a luxury”. They argue that free access would reduce financial barriers and improve equality, particularly for women, who are usually responsible for contraception.

Emilie, a psychology student, told SRF that the cost of the contraceptive pill was considerable. Without financial support from her parents, she said, she might stop taking it. Students Tessa and Elisa also argued that free pills, intrauterine devices and diaphragms would give access to people whose parents could not pay for them.

Sara Arsever, head of the sexual health counselling service at Geneva University Hospital, said free contraception would make her work easier. Her service spends considerable time helping people who cannot afford contraception, she said, although this is not always successful. Long-term methods such as intrauterine devices can cost 300 to 400 Swiss francs upfront, which is difficult for some of her mostly young patients.

Supporters also point to Geneva’s comparatively high rate of voluntary terminations of pregnancy, which they hope would fall if contraceptives were free. Arsever said, however, that Switzerland’s abortion figures were good despite the cost of contraception, including in Geneva.

Opponents estimate that the proposal would cost the canton around 20 million Swiss francs a year. Pierre Nicollier, president of Geneva’s Liberal-Radical Party, said the money would also benefit people who could easily afford contraception, such as private bankers with high salaries. Distributing contraceptives universally would be too expensive and ineffective, he argued.

Nicollier said the canton’s main public health problem was the spread of sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV, rather than unintended pregnancies. He said condoms were the only contraceptive method that protected against those infections. His party supports a separate plan to distribute free condoms in Geneva from mid-2027.

Making all other contraceptives free could encourage fewer couples to use condoms and lead to a further spread of sexually transmitted infections, Nicollier argued. Voters will decide on September 27 whether free contraception in Geneva will include only condoms or also the pill, intrauterine devices and hormone implants.