In the face of widespread teen pregnancy, health officials are edging closer to lowering the legal abortion age from 20 to 18, a move that would open the door for younger girls to seek help from licensed doctors.
The Bureau of Health Promotion is working on revisions to the Genetic Health Law (
"We are working to achieve a consensus on the definition of adulthood," the bureau's Director-General Lin Shio-jean (
In Taiwan, civil law defines adulthood as 20 and above, but criminal law specifies that those aged over 18 must take responsibility for their own actions.
Under the current Genetic Health Law, girls younger than 20 need their parent or guardian's consent before they can have an abortion in a hospital. Yet many choose to keep their pregnancy a secret and resort to abortion pills or other methods.
The official figures from 1999 to 2002 show that at least 11,600 teenage abortion cases are reported every year. But that figure is just the tip of iceberg, gynecologists said.
"The hospitals only report therapeutic abortions for insurance reimbursement," said Hsu Jenn-jeih (徐振傑), a gynecologist at the Chung Kung Memorial Hospital. "But in fact we are forced to turn away many teenagers who come in without their parents."
Barred from hospitals and lacking parental guidance, many pregnant teens opt for buying the abortion pill RU 486 on the Internet. The Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology estimates that the easy availability of RU 486 may contribute to some 12,000 cases of abortions by girls younger than 20.
The situation is worsened by the fact that some of the pills offered online are potentially dangerous fakes. Since RU 486 entered the Taiwan market four years ago, the Department of Health has reported 3 cases of deaths due to ingestion of bogus RU 486 pills. It warned that about 40 percent of the popular pills hawked on the Internet are counterfeit.
"Fake pills can lead to many pregnancy complications, including partial miscarriage, hemorrhage, septicemia, pelvic inflammatory disease and even death," Hsu said.
Lowering the legal abortion age will greatly reduce these risks and protect women's right to abortions, women's groups say.
"These girls [between 18 and 20 years old] are the victims of a stringent law, and the rules drive them underground," said Taiwan Women's Link President Huang Shu-ying (
The bureau is expected to hammer out a consensus and submit a draft revision of the Genetic Health Law to the Executive Yuan by the end of next month.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by