Women must have this option because it is their right; abortions continue regardless of it being illegal in Fiji: rich women get safe abortions while poor women continue to obtain backdoor abortions which are often botched, and in many cases prove fatal or cause permanentphysical damage and trauma.

Decriminalising abortions means safe abortions, informed requests and pre and post abortion counselling available to all women regardless of age, race, class or religion.

Our family planning and sex education efforts are inadequate and inaccessible and creates a situation where unwanted pregnancies arise: then the state and society criminalise women who do something about it.

Women do not use abortion as a means of contraception and no country in the world where abortion has been legalised has shown a marked increase in abortion rates.

Abortion is often the most moral choice in a world that frequently denies women healthcare, housing, education and economic survival.