Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) are undergoing their final gender impact assessment and should be submitted to the Executive Yuan by the end of the month, Health Promotion Administration Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) said today.
The Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environment Hygiene Committee is scheduled to review 16 versions of the amendment drafted by legislators on Thursday, but the version drafted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare has not yet been scheduled for review.
The ministry integrated more than 600 different opinions into their revision over nine meetings, and some wording still needs to be adjusted, Wu told reporters.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
Once the gender impact assessment has been completed and the ministry has approved the revision, it would be sent to the Executive Yuan, Wu said.
“We have always respected everyone’s opinions and legislators’ scheduling,” he said.
The public and legislators have suggested separating surrogacy issues from adjustments to assisted reproduction laws, with women’s groups suggesting to first focus on rights for female same-sex couples.
The ministry does not have a position on this, and whether to separate the issues could be further discussed, Wu said.
The revised version is largely similar to the version released for public review, with minor adjustments to the wording, Wu said, adding that the ministry is following regulations for the review process.
Whether the ministry’s revised version would be reviewed by the Legislative Yuan during this session would be decided by the Executive Yuan, he added.
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