Taiwan's Department of Health (DOH,
DOH director-general Lee Ming-liang (李明亮) yesterday said that the pill was approved to prevent women from taking the drug on their own, risking excessive bleeding and other dangers.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
According to Lee, thousands of Taiwanese women, most of them teenagers, have illegally obtained the pill from drug stores or the Internet. "Legalizing the drug offered women an alternative form of abortion," Lee said, "and urged doctors to abide by the regulations."
According to DOH regulations, the French-imported RU-486 pill, called Mifepristone (
Meanwhile, patients would be required to have a medical checkup 36 to 48 hours after taking the pill, during which they would have to take a second drug which causes the uterus to expel the embryo.
"Medical supervision is necessary to ensure safe use of the drug," Lee said. Two Taiwan women died and about 1,000 were treated for side-effects from using the drug last year.
In Asia, only Taiwan and China have approved use of RU-486.
According to the DOH, companies involved in the import and distribution of RU-486 must register with authorities. The pill, which was first introduced in France 12 years ago, has been available on Taiwan's black market for several years, and recently on the Internet where the three initial pills cost between NT$4,800 to NT$6,000, local media said.
The pill only costs about NT$500 in a public hospital.
The government has yet to say what steps it will take to prevent illegal sales of the drug. Meanwhile, Lai Shu-mei (賴淑美), head of the Bureau of National Health Insurance (中央健保局), said yesterday the government will pay NT$1,500 for each patient who takes the pill on a doctor's prescription.
More than 42,000 abortions were performed under the national health program last year. However, Secretary-general of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Association Su Tsung-hsien (
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS