The Executive Yuan is by the end of the year expected to finish reviewing assisted reproduction legislation that would extend eligibility to single and queer women, while surrogacy provisions would be set aside for the time being, Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said in an interview published today.
When the Health Promotion Administration first proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) in May last year, the bill originally encompassed single women, queer women, queer men and surrogacy.
However, as surrogacy proved to be a controversial topic, a more passable version of the amendment that focused only on women’s reproductive autonomy was sent to the Executive Yuan for review earlier this year.
Photo: Chen Yu-jui, Taipei Times
Taiwan’s assisted reproduction laws only encompass straight married couples, so single women are excluded, Shih said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times, (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
Countries around the world have different approaches to assisted reproduction, and Taiwan is not the only nation to still be debating the issue, Shih said.
More than 40 countries have opened assisted reproduction to single women, and many others are moving in that direction, he said.
Assisted reproduction has traditionally been guided by two main principles, the first of which is that either the sperm or the egg comes from the couple seeking assisted reproduction, Shih said.
The second is that the woman carries the baby herself, a principle that surrogacy breaks, he said.
If neither of the spouses has a uterus or is capable of getting pregnant, there are more than 20 countries that legally permit surrogacy, while more than 40 countries explicitly ban it, showing that it is a controversial issue, he said.
“People used to say that getting pregnant is like stepping one foot into a coffin — it carries real risks,” Shih said.
Whether it is acceptable to put the health risks of pregnancy on the surrogate rather than the intended parents is a controversial topic, he said, adding that extensive discussion and supporting measures are needed to ensure protections for third parties and to prevent class-based exploitation.
This round of legislation would expand assisted reproduction eligibility to those who want to have children and can assume the associated risks themselves, while more controversial provisions would be set aside for now, Shih said.
The Executive Yuan is expected to complete its review of the draft amendment by the end of the year, he added.
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