Legislation regulating artificial insemination and surrogate motherhood will have to wait until at least September after last-ditch attempts to pass the law yesterday met with resistance at the Legislative Yuan.
Taking advantage of a final opportunity to review bills before the Legislative Yuan goes into recess on Saturday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tony Jian (簡肇棟), as convener of the Health, Environment and Social Welfare committee, tacked contesting drafts of the Artificial Insemination Law (人工生殖法草案) on to the committee agenda on Tuesday night.
The drafts were to have been discussed from 11am to 2pm yesterday, though committee sessions are rarely conducted around noon.
The last-minute addition caused a row among DPP lawmakers, with Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) accusing Jian of sneaking the draft law onto the agenda despite the Department of Health lacking its own version of the bill.
Currently, two versions of the bill have been put on the table, one authored by DPP Legislator Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and the other by independent Legislator Chiu Chuang-liang (邱創良). The department has yet to present its own draft.
"The health department has failed to put up its draft bill because it's facing great difficulties. Under these circumstances, it is improper to force the bill through the legislature. Arranging for a review of the bill at noon does not accord with the requirements of the legislative process," Shen said.
Stalled for around a decade, the bill has yet to clear the legislature, until which time no legal framework covers the regulation of artificial insemination and surrogacy. Artificial insemination is currently policed under departmental regulations which also prohibit surrogate motherhood.
Lin Shio-jean (林秀娟), director-general of the department's Bureau of Health Promotion, described the difficulties facing the department in drafting the bill.
"Firstly, we don't know if we can agree to legalizing surrogate motherhood. The draft laws we have right now are not very specific and would be unable to handle the issues adequately," Lin said.
Lin said that because surrogate motherhood is covered by the Artificial Insemination Law, the legalization of procedures not deemed to be as controversial has been blocked.
Lin said the department in September would propose that legal articles pertaining to surrogate motherhood be lifted from the current law and dealt with separately and at a later date.
"This is a very complex issue and requires a degree of thought to be put into medical, legal, human rights and ethical considerations. For example, if it is legalized, should it be covered by National Health Insurance?" department Director-General Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) asked.
Lin said the department would most likely wait until a conference held at the National Taiwan University in September reaches some conclusions on the matter before venturing its own draft.
Lin said the law needs to guarantee the rights of both the surrogate mother and the child. She criticized the drafts issued by Lai and Chiu, saying that they did not mention the rights of the child or custody matters. In previous years, the possibility of the commercialization of surrogacy has also been a point of concern.
Lin added that marital status offered another complication. Lai's version of the law would allow unmarried couples access to artificial insemination services.
The international community is also divided on the issue -- of those jurisdictions with legislation covering surrogate motherhood, 13 prohibit it and 9 permit it. Countries with prohibitions are Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Mexico, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Surrogacy is legal in Brazil, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, Holland, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and some states in the US.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS