In May, Taiwan’s legislative branch was pressured to revise its Genetic Health Law to require a six-day waiting period, rather than three days, before an abortion. A bipartisan group of women legislators, church groups, and civil society organizations launched the Grand Alliance for Respect of Life and All People at a press conference after addressing the legislature. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Tai-hua said she drafted the health law revision to promote an increase in birth rates and to prohibit abortion based on gender preference.
According to Taiwan Church News, Louis G. Aldrich, SJ, seminary director at Catholic Fu-jen University, said that to reduce abortion Taiwan should adopt a waiting-period system like those in Germany and the Netherlands. Abortion rates in those countries have dropped by up to 60 percent, he said. Taiwan also requires spousal notification, but not permission, for an abortion, vasectomy, or tubal ligation. In the United States, waiting periods before abortions are decided at the state level, and federally funded vasectomies require a 30-day waiting period.
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