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Fiji’s new Crimes Decree which came into effect this week makes it legal for doctors to perform abortions for pregnancy arising from rape and incest.
The decree states that the abortion “will need to be performed by a medical practitioner in good faith and reasonable care and skill; also they must be lawfully registered to practice medicine”.
An abortion by a medical practitioner is legal if the pregnancy is the result of sexual intercourse between a parent and child, a grandparent and a grandchild, a brother and sister; be it half blood or whole blood, or if it arises from rape.
The only justified exception for an abortion will be if the pregnancy threatens the life of the woman.
The decree goes on to further suggest that after 20 weeks of the woman’s pregnancy, an abortion can be justified only if two doctors have agreed that either the mother or the unborn child has severe medical conditions.
It must also be performed in a facility approved by the Minister for Health.
Further to that, a woman is liable for seven years imprisonment if she tries to abort the child through forced miscarriage.
A life imprisonment of 14 years is stipulated for a person who performs an abortion unlawfully.
