Pro-choice and anti-abortion activists face off in Geneva

A similar demonstration of pro-life activists took place in 2022 in Geneva. Keystone-SDA / Martial Trezzini

Anti-abortion Christian groups held a silent prayer in front of the Geneva train station on Saturday, to the whistles and shouts of pro-choice demonstrators. The confrontation was reminiscent of frequent scenes in the United States, at a time when the rollback of abortion rights across the Atlantic is worrying demonstrators.

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Several dozen anti-abortion activists took part in the public prayer for the unborn, which was conducted in silence. Some carried placards with anti-abortion slogans, religious images or photos of fetuses. Most held rosaries in their hands.

The prayer was organised by Eric Bertinat, a former right-wing Swiss People’s Party city councillor in Geneva who also chairs the Catholic Perspective association. He expressed surprise at the opposition to the prayer.

The counter-demonstration drew a much larger crowd. Around a hundred people came with banners and placards, but above all equipped with saucepans and whistles, to respond to this silent prayer with a lot of noise.

Rights never won

This face-off between conservative Christians and pro-choice activists, unusual in French-speaking Switzerland, was reminiscent of scenes often seen in the USA, where this type of demonstration is commonplace. The rollback of abortion rights in the United States and the rise of the far right were at the heart of the demonstrators’ concerns.

“These are rights that can never be taken for granted, that can always disappear,” explained one demonstrator to Swiss public television RTS. “We can see that things are going backwards everywhere, so it’s obviously scary.”

The demonstration ended after about half an hour of prayer, during which the police were careful to maintain a safe distance between the two camps. There were no outbursts.

Translated from French by DeepL/jdp

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