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Abortion, same sex marriage not on Samoa govt agenda

Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa
Source: Talamua Online

Apia, SAMOA — Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa has clarified that her Government will not change the laws only to satisfy some of the recommendations by the United Nation’s recent Human Rights Report.

Some of the fundamental rights central to the UN report included rights to abortion, same sex marriages and euthanasia.

These were raised in the Universal Periodic Review of Samoa’s state of human rights as examined by the United Nations Human Rights Council (U.N.H.R.C.) earlier this month.

Fiame emphasized that these are fundamental rights, which are well-protected under Samoa’s Constitution.

 “Whatever issues the UN raises, the Government’s utmost priority is the local environment and the Constitution and the context of those issues within the Samoan traditions and customs and our Christian principles and values,” said Fiame.

 “Samoa already has laws and its Constitution that guide her people on such issues, and the Government has no intention to change the law on these issues,“ she said.

She said Samoa’s forefathers who penned the Constitution had the foresight on the importance of a person’s fundamental human rights hence its inclusion in Samoa’s supreme law, the Constitution.

But these issues have been raised by the HRPP Opposition Party and had caused confusion and concern within the community as if these were raised by the FAST government.

In a HRPP press conference last week, one of the media outlets sought the party leader’s view on what he said was the Government’s alleged move to create a law to endorse the issues of abortion, same sex marriages and euthanasia as raised by the UN.

Read more at Talamua Online