Marsch fürs Läbe video screengrab / Facebook
Authorities forced thousands of pro-lifers who had hoped to march through Zürich Sept. 20 in peaceful opposition to abortion to congregate in Oerlikon, a quiet suburb of the city, where they endured disruptive protesters.
Dozens of police in full riot gear flanked the participants in this year’s Swiss March for Life,, according to Swiss Info.
A group of protesters repeatedly attempted to stop the march, including by setting off firecrackers and trying to block the road. Police eventually resorted to using water cannons and chemical irritants to force protesters to stop violence from breaking out.
Many passersby also booed the marchers.
While the organizers of the annual march initially applied to hold the event in Zürich, authorities rejected the application, citing concerns about safety and space. Authorities said the march could be held in the out-of-the-way suburb of Oerlikon. According to International Family News, the organizers said that the move was motivated by the desire to marginalize the pro-life movement and limit its presence in the public square.
Many in the pro-life movement in Switzerland have been working to expand public awareness of their cause. Last year, the pro-life group Mamma organized a vigil inFederal Square, which is in CITY. Organizers lit 12,000 candles in remembrance of the approximately 12,000 lives lost to abortion each year in Switzerland.
Abortion is currently legal in Switzerland for the first 12weeks of pregnancy for women who receive counseling, and until birth for women who cite health concerns.
The march, which began in 2010, featured Gianna Jessen, an American who survived an abortion and now works as a pro-life activist, as this year’s main speaker.
Dominik Müggler, the president of Mamma, believes that the pro-life movement will be victorious.
“Sooner or later abortion will disappear, not because it will have been made illegal, but because humankind will have realised that such a practice is fundamentally opposed to human dignity,” he wrote in 2022, according to Swiss Info.
