Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services.
The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing.
The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan via CNA
The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that the draft amendment, first announced in July, underwent changes after feedback was submitted.
The amendment would address assisted reproduction quality, expand licensing and authorization, and enforce regulatory compliance, enabling facilities to adapt management methodologies to evolving technology, it said.
All assisted reproduction facilities must implement policies to inform patients and obtain their agreement for all surgeries or invasive treatments, as well as enforcing regulations on the donation, preservation and use of sperm, oocytes and embryos, the proposed amendments say.
All potential candidates for assisted reproduction must undergo assessment by central government-designated professional facilities regarding whether they would be adequate parents, they say.
The assessment is a required procedure for heterosexual and same-sex couples, as well as single women, said Lin Yu-hsuan (林宇旋), head of the Health Promotion Administration’s (HPA) Women’s and Children’s Health Division.
To avoid conflicts of interest, the assessment cannot be conducted by the facility and must be carried out by an independent, professional third party, Lin said, adding that the government is compiling a list of such agencies.
Facilities providing assisted reproduction services must wait until the assessment is completed and approved before proceeding to help ensure that children would grow up in a stable, safe environment, the proposed amendments say.
To balance privacy rights and the rights of children, those who are born from assisted reproduction procedures can apply to see the donor’s blood type and nationality, the proposed changes say.
If they require organ transplants due to hereditary disorders, the name and contact information of the donors can be obtained, they say.
With a donor’s agreement, such people — when they reach the age of majority — would also be able to access information about the donor that was provided voluntarily, they say.
The ministry said that the proposed changes to the rules about donor information would provide greater transparency in an opaque system.
Groups newly eligible for assisted reproduction subsidies if the amendments pass would be made eligible only if the nation’s finances can sustain them, the ministry said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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