Several advocacy groups today protested outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei against proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) being discussed in the legislature that might result in the legalization of surrogacy.
The legislative Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee today deliberated on 16 proposed amendments to the act, five of which include proposing a surrogacy system.
Outside the building, rights groups demanded the withdrawal of the proposals, separating the issue of surrogacy from the proposed amendments, and arranging public forums.
Photo: Tian Yuhua, Taipei Times
Protesters chanted slogans such as “wombs are not merchandise,” “lives are not for trade,” “oppose putting price tags on wombs,” “women are not for rent” and “no baby trading.”
Taiwan Anti-Surrogate Pregnancy Action Group spokeswoman Chen Kai-ning (陳愷寧) said the proposal suggested by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party is not about “helping people to realize their dreams” or “women’s freedom to make choices.”
Instead, it is an economic activity dominated by intermediaries and medical institutions which treat women’s wombs as production tools and surrogate mothers as workers on a production line, she said.
It does not liberate women but exploits their fertility and bodies, she added.
Taiwan Women's Link secretary-general Chen Su-fang (陳書芳) said surrogacy does not mean “womb lending” but involves health risks during pregnancy and giving birth.
The proposed amendments ignore the possibility of irreversible health damage suffered by surrogate mothers and the costs they would have to bear, she said.
Surrogacy is exploitative and discriminatory in nature, she said, emphasizing that establishing such a system would oppress underprivileged women.
Wang Hsiao-han (王筱涵), an advocate of the Awakening Foundation, said it would be a “human right disaster” if the proposed amendments were to be approved.
Although the lawmakers suggested that intermediaries and medical institutions involved would be nonprofit organizations, there are no measures in place to regulate these organizations and to prevent profit-making activities, she said.
She warned KMT Legislator Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) not to “kidnap” access to assisted reproduction for single women and lesbian couples with the proposed amendments to the act.
Savungaz Valincinan, chairperson of the Taiwan Indigenous Youth Public Participation Association, said indigenous females have long been underprivileged in society and many could become surrogate mothers if the proposed amendments were to be approved.
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