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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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