During a recent seminar, Lu Hung-chi, an emeritus professor from National Taiwan University, stunned his audience when he said an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 abortions were performed in Taiwan last year. With only around 166,000 births last year, Taiwan’s birthrate reached yet another record low. The number of abortions significantly dwarfs the number of births. In order to help resolve birth and pregnancy related issues, the government should encourage people to have children and also establish channels for pregnancy counseling, reporting pregnancies, and adoption.
The Deputy Director General of the Bureau of Health Promotion under the Department of Health (DOH), Chao Kun-yu, said that around 240,000 induced abortions were registered annually over the past three years, including medically induced abortions.
Chao also said that based on analysis of induced abortion data provided by the Bureau of National Health Insurance, besides slightly more than 210,000 abortions registered in 2004, 180,000 to 190,000 abortions were performed annually from 2006 to 2009. According to statistics from the DOH’s Food and Drug Administration, the abortifacient drug mifepristone (RU486) was used for 40,000 to 50,000 medical abortions annually over the past three years, which means there were about 240,000 abortions performed each year. However, this figure does not include clandestine abortions.
Photo: Courtesy of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
照片:台科大提供
Chao said current legislation on induced abortions specifically states that the spouse’s consent, is required if an abortion is performed for psychological or family reasons. Civil groups say that such legislation is a direct violation of women’s rights. Thus, when the drafted version of the Eugenics Protection Act was sent to legislature in 2009, this clause was altered so that the spouse is merely notified, and the mother shall be granted a three-day reflection period to carefully consider her decision, and giving her the opportunity to visit a professional counseling institution. However, the draft is still in the legislature, and has yet to pass legislation.
Professor Lee Mao-sheng from Chung Shan Medical University’s Institute of Medicine said it is worth noticing that in the past mostly teenagers were getting abortions, but that the number of people old enough to get married and opting to have abortions has skyrocketed in recent years. The reason is that they feel they cannot afford having children, or because they are afraid of the extra burden. A lot of people are simply choosing not to get married or have children, or deciding not to have children even after getting married.
Lee said that because of the economic recession, soaring real estate prices and stagnating salaries, the abortion rate has risen by around 20 percent over the past few years. However, with the arrival of the year of the dragon, the abortion rate is expected to fall to 10 percent, and the number of newborns next year is expected to increase to between 180,000 and 200,000.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
台大名譽教授呂鴻基近日在一場研討會上令人震驚表示,每年推估台灣有三十萬到五十萬的小生命「被拿掉」。台灣總生育率去年創下新低,只有十六萬六千多個寶寶出生。被拿掉的小生命比出生的還多很多。政府應鼓勵生育,亦應建立懷孕諮詢申報、輔導及領養管道,儘量解決民眾所面臨的生育問題。
衛生署國民健康局副局長趙坤郁表示,根據近三年來每年人工流產加上使用墮胎藥平均人次,一年墮胎就已約達二十四萬人次。
趙坤郁表示,以健保局人工流產資料分析,除了二零零四年有二十一萬四百三十七人次,從九十五年到九十八年都在十八萬到十九萬人次。依據衛生署食品藥物管理局統計RU486平均使用人次,近三年每年平均約四萬到五萬人次。也就是說,一年的墮胎人次就有約二十四萬人次,還不包括透過地下管道墮胎的個案。
趙坤郁說,現行規定因心理、家庭因素要施行人工流產,需經配偶同意。但民間團體宣稱違反婦女自主權。因此九十八年優生保健法草案送到立法院,改為只需告知配偶,但為了讓婦女有更多的思考,設計三天思考期,讓懷孕婦女可以透過專業輔導諮商機構,充分考慮是否墮胎。不過,草案都還在立法院,尚未完成修法。
中山醫學大學醫學研究所教授李茂盛則表示,值得警惕的是,過去「刻意」拿掉小生命的族群以青少年居多,但近年來,選擇拿掉小生命的適婚年齡族群有竄起之勢,因為很多人怕養不起、怕負擔。不少人不婚也不生,即便婚了也不生。
李茂盛指出,最近幾年,經濟不景氣、房價飆高、薪水停滯調漲,墮胎率也受到影響高出兩成,不過,隨著龍年的到來可望減緩,預估墮胎率可以降至一成,明年新生兒的出生數,可望上升至十八萬到二十萬。
(自由時報記者魏怡嘉)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
There are several methods to prevent or slow down enzymatic browning in fruit. __3__ This lowers the pH level of the fruit tissue, causing the PPO to be far less active. Another method is to store the fruit in an airtight container or to wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Doing this will reduce its exposure to oxygen. __4__ Although fruit that has undergone enzymatic browning may look less appealing, it is still safe to eat. However, by using one of these simple methods, you can enjoy fresh-looking fruit for a longer period. 有一些方法能避免或減緩水果的酶促褐變。其中一個有效的方式就是在切片水果的表面塗上酸性物質,像是檸檬汁或醋。這樣做能降低水果組織的酸鹼值,讓 PPO 更不為活躍。另一個方式是將水果存放在密封的容器內,或用保鮮膜將其緊緊包住。這樣做會減少水果與氧氣的接觸。快速蒸一下切片水果或將其短暫浸泡在滾水中也能使PPO失去活性,並終止 PPO 與空氣的作用。 雖然經歷酶促褐變的水果可能看起來較不吸引人,但仍然可以安全食用。然而,藉由採用這些簡單方法中的其中一個,你就能在更長的一段時間享用看起來新鮮的水果。 What Did You