Mauritius Resists UN Pressure on Abortion

(September 17, 2011) The tiny island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean off southern Africa, is legally speaking, one of the safest places for an unborn child in Africa. Bishop Maurice Piat of Port-Louis is having to appeal to political leaders to keep it that way. The government of Mauritius has ratified a U.N. convention on discrimination against women, but now faces pressure to approve legislation relaxing laws against abortion, Vatican Radio reported Tuesday. Currently abortion is only legal in cases where the mother's life is in danger. Bishop Piat is opposing legislation, stemming from the U.N. Convention, which would establish a "right" to abortion during the first six months of pregnancy.". TheBishop noted how the Church stands with women facing an unwanted pregnancy, but stressed that "abortion isn't a right because there is a duty to protect the child." He also called for education in sexuality, understood as "an education that presents the nobility of human sexual love lived in the context of a lasting and committed love in matrimony throughout life."