Women's Movements in Twentieth-Century Taiwan by Doris Chang

Author:Doris Chang [Chang, Doris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General, Women's Studies, Feminism & Feminist Theory, History, Asia
ISBN: 9780252090813
Google: jRtsdbiELx8C
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Published: 2010-10-01T02:42:45+00:00

The Eugenic Law for the Protection of Health

In 1984, the passage of the Eugenic Bill for the Protection of Health greatly enhanced women’s reproductive choices. That year, Awakening became the vanguard of non-governmental affiliated groups petitioning for the bill’s passage in the Legislative Yuan. Drafted by the Kuomintang government’s Department of Public Health in 1971, the Eugenic Law (Yousheng baojianfa) was approved by the Executive Yuan in 1982 and sent to the Legislative Yuan for further deliberation. In 1984, the Legislative Yuan passed the bill and legalized abortion in Taiwan.41

The Eugenic Law for the Protection of Health states that a pregnant woman is exempted from prosecution for abortion: (1) if she or her spouse has a hereditary or a contagious disease, (2) if the fetus were severely handicapped, (3) if the pregnancy were caused by rape or incest, (4) if the pregnancy endangers the woman’s life, or (5) if the pregnancy negatively affects the woman’s mental health or family life, on the condition that the woman acquires the consent of her husband to obtain an abortion.42 If the female were a legal minor, she would need the signature of a legal guardian. In other words, only the fifth situation requires a woman to acquire the consent of her husband or a legal guardian to obtain a legal abortion. A woman could choose to have an abortion without the consent of either her husband or a legal guarantor in the first four cases.43

During deliberations over the bill, fifty legislators opposed its last provision. They contended that the exemption of women from prosecution for abortion on the grounds of the negative effect on their mental health or family life amounted to de facto legalization of unlimited abortion. Further, they argued that the legalization of abortion would increase instances of sexual promiscuity in society. To convince the socially conservative Legislative Yuan that the Eugenic Law should be passed in its entirety, Awakening feminists argued that there is no evidence to suggest that legalizing abortion causes an increase in sexual promiscuity. They argued that selective, legalized abortion could protect women’s health and save women’s lives from unregulated illegal abortions. Legalized abortion could also control population growth and thereby ensure social stability. Since Taiwan had the second highest population density in the world, the Awakening feminists, as a matter of strategy, appealed to the Kuomintang’s family planning campaign as a rationale for passage of the legislation. To ensure the socially conservative legislators’ support for the Eugenic Law, the Awakening feminists emphasized passage of the legislation for the good of the entire society rather than based on a woman’s individual right to control her own body.44

In the 1970s, Lu Hsiu-lien contended that the legalization of abortion was essential for protecting a woman’s right to control her own body.45 As proponents of women’s rights, some feminists had misgivings about the clause in the law that stipulated the need for the husband’s consent to abort a fetus. Lee Yuan-chen was troubled by the state’s power to limit the number of obstetricians permitted to perform legal abortions.

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