A Film Intervenes: The Fight for Abortion Rights

In 1977, Switzerland held a vote on the decriminalisation of abortion. The film Lieber Herr Doktor (Dear Doctor, 1977) was produced in support of the federal popular initiative for the time-limit solution on abortion (commonly known as the Fristenlösungsinitiative). Politically motivated and educational in intent, the film sparked widespread debate and numerous discussions. It was initiated and realised by the film group “Schwangerschaftsabbruch” (pregnancy termination), which brought together representatives from various culturally and socio-politically engaged collectives, including the Association of Independent Doctors Zurich (VUAZ), the Information and Counselling Centre for Women (INFRA), and Filmkollektiv Zürich.

Filmkollektiv Zürich was founded in 1975 as an offshoot of the film distribution company Filmcooperative, which had been established in 1972. It functioned as a collaborative platform for film technicians and authors supporting each other in production. Among its founding members were Hans Stürm, Georg Janett, and Marlies Graf. Until its dissolution in 2018, Filmkollektiv produced over 70 films, including works by directors such as Yves Yersin, Alexander J. Seiler, Richard Dindo, Marlies Graf, and Gertrud Pinkus. Its productions ranged from feature films and documentaries to politically engaged intervention films such as Lieber Herr Doktor.

A leaflet from the Women's Liberation Movement (FBB) provides information about the legal status of abortion at the time, the costs involved, and the difficult experiences many women faced during consultations with gynaecologists. The FBB emerged from the women's movement of 1968 as a coalition of various feminist groups and networks. INFRA, one of the organizations involved in the film, was also part of the FBB and played a key role in its production.

«In Switzerland today, abortion is still considered a criminal offence and is sentenced to prison. Abortion is only permitted if the woman's life is in danger and no other means of prevention exist.»

FBB flyer, in the 1970s

INFRA was a volunteer-run support center in Zurich that provided counselling to women in various life situations, with a key focus on offering information about abortion. A flyer from the time shows how INFRA raised awareness of its services.

The Association of Independent Doctors, founded in Zurich in 1975, was an association of socially committed doctors. Dr. Peter Frei, one of its members, was involved in Lieber Herr Doktor. The images show a consultation with a patient, Yvonne, who consented to have her abortion filmed. 

On the back of a flyer, the abortion film group explains their perspective on what makes a film to be emancipatory.

“For us, ‘emancipatory’ film does not mean pushing the viewer to form an expected opinion. But it does mean motivating the viewer to reflect on their views, whatever they may be, to express them, to express themselves personally in a vote.”

Flyer, Filmkollektiv/Filmcooperative Zurich, 1977

Like many feminist films of the era, Lieber Herr Doktor was screened outside of traditional cinemas. Another flyer provides detailed instructions on how to rent out the film and how it could be used.

The film includes documentary footage of an abortion, a discussion in the municipality of Ennenda in the canton of Glarus, and portraits of several women sharing their abortion experiences. A 15-minute abortion scene, later incorporated into Lieber Herr Doktor, was initially used in discussions about the Fristenlösungsinitiative before the film’s completion. The following film clip shows the debate in Ennenda, where participants had viewed the abortion scene beforehand. The community members express a range of perspectives, leading to a dynamic discussion.

Meeting minutes archived at the Cinémathèque suisse reveal both shared interests and tensions that can emerge in collective filmmaking. In an interview, three former members of the abortion film group reflect on the collaboration process and the film’s reception. Among them, artist and graphic designer Helen Pinkus-Rhymann (b. 1942) was involved with INFRA and the FBB, while light technician André Pinkus and the costume and production designer Sylvia de Stoutz were active members of Filmkollektiv Zürich.

For the 1977 Solothurn Film Festival, Marianne Fehr and Rahel Zschokke published an in-depth analysis of Lieber Herr Doktor. They examine how this type of political filmmaking – designed to integrate the interests of multiple groups – demands new forms of collaboration and representation, distinguishing it from the traditional film d’auteur approach.

“There would have been no place in this film for an author wanting to realise themself. An art film would have been possible, but with different priorities, different content, and a different form. The aim to create a documentary on political news issues including the direct participation of those affected (women) required a qualitatively different kind of collaboration.”

Marianne Feher/Rahel Zschokke, Information 1977

In the film the three women – Steffi, Jona, and Françoise – share their personal experiences.

Freddy Buache, a film critic, historian, and former director of the Cinémathèque suisse, also commented on the political relevance of the film in a review published in the newspaper Tribune (1977).

“This film, without claiming to present any solution to the audience, seems to have the rare merit of showing clearly that these fundamental choices, despite the carefree cluelessness of the masses and the illusory selfish bliss of mantes, are less and less easy to avoid. Everyone's future begins with the way we each live our present. There are arrogant lies far more criminal than the painful truth of abortion.”

Fredddy Buache, Tribune, 1977

The film Lieber Herr Doktor was restored and digitized in 2024 by the Cinémathèque suisse.