The debate over whether Taiwan's liberal laws on abortion should be amended to impose a compulsory waiting period for women seeking abortions was originally scheduled to be debated yesterday at the legislature, with three competing versions of an amendment to the ninth statute of the Genetic Health Law (優生保健法).
The meeting however was canceled due to a lack of legislators.
The version of the amendment sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) and others emphasizes "family values," "the fetus' right to life" and abstinence-only sex-education for young people.
An amendment sponsored by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Tai-hua (
Both amendments support a six-day waiting period for those seeking abortions, after an initial consultation with a counselor.
The third amendment, spon-sored by DPP Legislator Huang Sue-ying, (黃淑英) however, does not include a waiting period, but would create an insurance fund to help women cover some of the costs related to abortions.
Yang, the only amendment sponsor to attend the legislature's Health, Environment and Social Welfare Committee meeting yesterday, said she and Lin supported each other's amendments.
"We agree on the importance of the sanctity of life," Yang said. "But my amendment focuses more on teaching young people early on the importance of maintaining their chastity, for both men and women."
Huang, however, attacked the other two amendments for "disre-specting" a woman's autonomy.
"If religious groups want to spread their values, they should prosyletize, not force the rest of us to go along with their morals by pushing through legislation," said Huang of Yang's amendment, which she said was colored by religious beliefs.
Huang also had harsh words for Lin's amendment, which mentioned low birth rates as a pressing problem for Taiwan while recommending a six-day waiting period.
"We should not be manipulating female bodies every time we need to raise or lower the population," said Huang, adding that abortion was originally legalized in Taiwan with a view of encouraging a lower birth rate, although birthrates started to decline before the law went into effect.
"The real reason that women are not willing to have kids is that the burden on them is too great. You see this in all countries with traditional Confucian values ... The solution is greater gender equality and more social support," Huang said.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei City Reserve Command yesterday initiated its first-ever 14-day recall of some of the city’s civilian service reservists, who are to undergo additional training on top of refresher courses. The command said that it rented sites in Neihu District (內湖), including the Taipei Tennis Center, for the duration of the camp to optimize tactical positioning and accommodate the size of the battalion of reservists. A battalion is made up of four companies of more than 200 reservists each, it said. Aside from shooting drills at a range in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the remainder of the training would be at
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