Reproductive Medicine Act (RMA)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 1 Subject and purpose
1 This Act specifies the conditions under which the techniques of medically assisted reproduction may be used in humans. 2 It protects human dignity, personality and the family and prohibits misuses of biotechnology and gene technology. 3 It provides for the establishment of a national ethics commission.
Art. 2 Definitions
In this Act: a. techniques of medically assisted reproduction (assisted reproductive techniques) means methods of establishing a pregnancy without sexual intercourse – in particular, insemination, in vitro fertilisation with embryo transfer and gamete transfer; b. insemination means the introduction, by means of instruments, of sperm cells into the female reproductive organs; c. in vitro fertilisation means the bringing together of an ovum and sperm cells outside the woman’s body; d. gamete transfer means the introduction, by means of instruments, of sperm cells and ova into the uterus or a Fallopian tube; e. reproductive cells (gametes) means sperm cells and ova; f. germline cells means reproductive cells (including their precursor cells), impregnated ova and embryonic cells whose genetic material can be passed on to offspring; g. impregnation means causing a sperm cell to penetrate into the cytoplasm of an ovum, in particular by insemination, gamete transfer or in vitro fertilisation