Women's rights activists are protesting allowing surrogacy in Taiwan as lawmakers review 16 bills to expand access to assisted reproduction. The health ministry has already agreed to consider the issue of surrogacy separately from bills relating to single women and same-sex couples, as the former has proven more controversial.
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00:00The issue of reproductive rights is backing the nation's legislature with more than a dozen amendments being debated by lawmakers on Thursday.
00:08And one issue in particular, relating to surrogate mothers, is causing a backlash.
00:13Joyce Deng is following the debate on the Assisted Reproduction Act for us from our Taipei newsroom.
00:18Joyce, why is this so controversial?
00:21Lawmakers have begun reviewing a set of 16 bills put forward by different political parties to broaden assisted pregnancy or reproduction laws.
00:34This is a big deal for single women and same-sex couples who are currently banned in Taiwan from accessing procedures like IVF.
00:43Aside from single women and same-sex couples, the original package of proposed amendments had also included granting access to surrogate mothers.
00:52Surrogacy is illegal in Taiwan and there have been strong protests by anti-surrogacy activists who want to keep it that way.
01:00Their argument is that surrogacy is likely to exploit economically disadvantaged women.
01:05They also say that this is not just renting a womb. This is asking another woman to take on unpredictable health risks,
01:13which is why these activists don't believe that a woman can fully consent to being a surrogate.
01:20We don't believe that there is a perfect law. We don't believe that.
01:29Foreign experience tells us that no matter what kind of law you have, there will always be a situation.
01:34But this shouldn't exist.
01:37The reason behind this is that we want to have our own children.
01:42This is what we want to break. Why do we have to have our own children?
01:46Love shouldn't be restricted because of children.
01:58Taiwan has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world and the population is in decline.
02:10Anti-surrogacy activists here would argue that the government should not commodify women's bodies to boost birth rates.
02:17But at the same time, others have maintained that surrogacy is a viable option for those who want but cannot have children.
02:25So a lot of ethical intricacies to consider here for these lawmakers.