Taiwan has the second most serious gender imbalance in the world, partly attributable to sex-selective abortion made possible by the negligence of health authorities in adopting measures to prevent the practice, the Control Yuan said yesterday.
The Control Yuan censured the Bureau of Health Promotion and the Food and Drug Administration, accusing the government bodies of failing to come up with effective measures to crack down on -gender-based abortions.
According to data compiled by the Department of Health, Taiwan’s ratio of males to females at birth from 2004 to last year was between 1.085 and 1.108, higher than the biological norm, estimated at between 1.04 and 1.06.
The sex ratio at birth in -Taiwan was higher than any country in the Organisation for Economic Co--operation and Development, trailing only China, where the one-child policy has led to decades of sex-selective abortions and killings of baby girls.
Last year, the overall sex ratio at birth in China was 1.18 male births per female.
The department in May estimated that the nation’s population last year was short by up to 3,000 female babies. There was a total of 92,310 baby girls last year, lower than the estimated 95,386 baby girls the nation would have if pregnancies were not terminated.
Control Yuan member Gau Fehng-shian (高鳳仙) said sex--selective abortion could explain the higher sex ratio at birth for a family’s third child compared with the first and second child, and the higher sex ratio at birth for mothers aged 35 compared with young mothers.
“The data showed that mothers are still under pressure to produce a son and heir if their first or second children are girls or when they are advanced in age,” she said.
The bureau said it was unable to ascertain whether the -imbalance was brought about by the practice of some doctors performing sex-selective abortions.
Because abortions are not covered by the National Health Insurance (NHI) system, the NHI does not keep records related to abortions, while gender is not listed as a reason for abortion on most medical records Moreover, there are cases in which fetal gender screening is conducted in one medical institution, while abortions are performed in another, the Control Yuan statement quoted bureau officials as saying.
Despite the practical difficulties, the Control Yuan said health authorities should have made more frequent visits to medical institutions to be on the lookout for sex-selective abortions.
The bureau did not start to inspect medical institutions for evidence of a gender imbalance until the second half of last year, Gau said.
Gau also accused the bureau and the Food and Drug Administration of failing to monitor whether medical institutions prescribe mifepristone, an abortion pill commonly known as RU-486, for legitimate reasons or for sex selectivity.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
OVERWHELMING SUPPORT: The bill with US$2 billion in Foreign Military Financing Program funds and US$1.9 billion to replenish defense articles passed the House 385-34 Taiwan is to continue working with the US to ensure peace in the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday after the US House of Representatives approved a US$95 billion foreign aid package with funding for Taiwan. The bills were passed with bipartisan support in a rare Saturday session after votes had been delayed for months by House Republicans. After clearing the House, the bills — containing US$8 billion for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region, along with US$60.8 billion for Kyiv, and US$26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones — would be combined into a
The navy next month is expected to commission into service two more domestically built Tuo Chiang-class stealth missile corvettes, a source said yesterday. The Hsu Chiang (旭江, PGG-621) and the Wu Chiang (武江, PGG-623) would be officially commissioned in a ceremony early next month, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The corvettes, launched in February and June last year respectively, were delivered to the navy in February. They are the third and fourth Tuo Chiang-class stealth missile corvettes to be produced. The Tuo Chiang-class corvette is a domestically designed and manufactured class of fast and stealthy multipurpose corvette built for the