News

By Gudrun Schultz

SUVA, Fiji, September 25, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The island nation of Fiji is considering the decriminalization of abortion, homosexuality and prostitution, the Fiji Times reported September 21, after growing pressure by international activist organizations to alter the laws.

Under Fiji’s present Penal Code, abortion and homosexual activity are considered criminal offences. Legal experts will spend the next three months preparing recommendations on the Crimes Act, which will replace the Penal Code, according to Fiji Law Reform Commission chairman Alipate Qetaki.

“We would decide whether to decriminalize these offences or retain existing laws,” he told the Times.

The legal commission will consider suggestions to permit abortion if the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy, if the woman would be “mentally unfit” to care for the child, if the woman had been using a birth control method or device when she became pregnant, or if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.

Regarding homosexuality, the Fiji High Court earlier set the stage for the law reassessment when it ruled that Penal Code provisions against homosexuality were unconstitutional and breached individual rights to privacy and equality before the law.

Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase supports the nation’s existing homosexuality laws, stating in April 2005 that the laws reflect the Biblical prohibition of homosexual activity, speaking on a local radio station.

Christian groups opposed to the High Court’s ruling were denied the right to march in protest in November 2005, after holding one demonstration in Nausori earlier in the year.

Dr. Shaista Shameem, head of the Fiji Human Rights Commission, warned the Methodist Church of Fiji it could face prosecution if it insisted on a second march against expressing opposition to legalized homosexuality.

See related LifeSiteNews coverage:

FIJI ABORTIONIST INVESTIGATED IN DEATH OF WOMAN FOLLOWING ABORTION
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/mar/03032513.html

Prime Minister says Fiji’s Sodomy Law Reflects Biblical Truth
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/apr/05041406.html

Fiji’s Christian Majority Denied Right to March against Homosexuality by ‘Human Rights’ Commission
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05111003.html