The Executive Yuan on Thursday approved the Ministry of Health and Welfare's draft amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act, aimed at upholding women's reproductive autonomy and safeguarding the best interests of children. The draft will now be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation.
Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun said that since its implementation in 2007, the Assisted Reproduction Act has restricted the use of assisted reproductive technologies to heterosexual married couples, leaving women who are unmarried, divorced, widowed or in same-sex marriages without equal ability to exercise their basic right to start a family.
Vice Premier Cheng said the draft amendments are grounded in the fundamental principle of respecting women's reproductive autonomy and would expand eligibility for assisted reproduction to include both unmarried women and women in same-sex marriages. The proposed changes would also safeguard the best interests of children, clarify the legal status of children born through assisted reproduction, strengthen maternal and child rights, and improve family support systems, ensuring that all families can develop equally under the protection of the law.