Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) yesterday said at least two public hearings would be held on an amendment to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) after the Lunar New Year, while a few civic groups yesterday said their survey data suggested that more than 80 percent of Taiwanese oppose legalizing surrogacy.
As several versions of amendment bills to the act were proposed by lawmakers, mainly for legalizing surrogacy and expanding the eligibility of assisted reproduction to same-sex couples and single women, Hsueh, at the Legislative Yuan last month, said the ministry would gather more information and draft its amendment bill carefully.
With the new legislative session to begin next week, Hsueh was asked by reporters about the ministry’s plans and progress for revising the Assisted Reproduction Act.
Photo: CNA
He said the ministry has discussed the issues with specialists and has decided on the preliminary content, but it has not been assembled to become the Cabinet’s amendment bill.
However, there are different views on legalizing surrogacy mothers, which were aired during the presidential election, with different parties holding different views, so there is still some distance to cover before society reaches a consensus on the issue, he said.
The ministry has instructed the Health Promotion Administration to hold at least two public hearings to gather opinions after the Lunar New Year holiday, Hsueh said, adding that the public hearings would decide whether the amendment to the act should proceed in two phases.
He said that as the issues concerning legalizing surrogacy are more complicated, some lawmakers and experts have suggested temporarily removing it from discussion, and review the other proposed amendments to the act in the first phase, such as legalizing assisted reproduction for same-sex couples and single women.
If most opinions collected are in favor of amending the act in two phases, the ministry would first propose an amendment that excludes articles on legalizing surrogacy, he said, adding that there is no time schedule or predetermined goal set by the ministry at this time.
Separately, members of Pro Femina Taiwan, the Mothers Shield Alliance and the Taiwan Women’s Life Protection Association held a news conference in Taipei yesterday morning to express their opposition against legalizing surrogacy.
Taiwan Women’s Life Protection Association chairperson Hsieh Hui-chen (解慧珍) said they are against expanding the eligibility for assisted reproduction, either for same-sex couples, single women or other circumstances, and are against legalizing surrogacy.
She said that surrogate mothers in other countries are mostly economically underprivileged and less educated, and they are lending their embryos to earn a living, adding that if the pregnancy process is commercialized, the surrogate mothers’ health condition might be neglected, unless it affects the fetus.
Mothers Shield Alliance deputy secretary-general Shan Hsin-ai (單信愛) said that for a pregnant woman, giving birth to a child is like betting their life, given the risks associated with pregnancy and the potential labor complications, and that the risk should not be transferred to underprivileged woman as the surrogate mother.
She said that an online survey conducted by the alliance between Dec. 17 last year and Jan. 1 showed that 82.1 percent of the respondents opposed legalizing surrogacy.
Additional reporting by CNA
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