SWITZERLAND is considering changing its incest laws to make sexual relations between family members LEGAL.
It claims the law banning incest is "obsolete", adding that the courts have dealt with just three cases since 1984.
The upper house of the Swiss parliament has drafted a law decriminalising sex between consenting family members which must now be considered by the government.
Switzerland insists that children within families will continue to be protected by laws governing abuse and paedophilia.
Politicians of both the left and right are said to be outraged at the suggested change.
But Green party MP and lawyer Daniel Vischer said he saw nothing wrong with two consenting adults having sex — even if they were related.
He added: "Incest is a difficult moral question, but not one that is answered by penal law."
Barbara Schmid Federer of The Christian People's Party of Switzerland slammed the proposal, saying it was "completely repugnant".
She said: "I for one could not countenance painting out such a law from the statute books."
The Protestant People's Party is also opposed to decriminalising the offence which at present carries a maximum three year jail term.
A spokesman for the party said: "Murder is also quite rare in Switzerland but no-one suggests that we remove that as an office from the statutes."
Members of the Swiss People's Party are calling for the proposed amendment to be struck down immediately and for incest laws to actually be beefed up.
Justice minister Simonetta Sommaruga has yet to decide whether to implement the proposal.
