Harsher penalties for illegal abortions, Taiwan justice ministry proposes

Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice intends to increase penalties for illegal abortions, as current fines are out of date, the MOJ announced this week.

According to the MOJ proposal, the fine for women who have abortions outside legal parameters allowed under the Genetic Health Act will be increased from NT$3,000 (US$94) to NT$80,000 (US$2,505). For those who provide an illegal abortion for profit, the fine will increase from NT$15,000 (US$470) to NT$500,000 (US$16,656). If the procedure results in the death of the woman, the penalty will be increased to NT$2 million (US$62,624), up from NT$15,000.

The proposal will be submitted to the Executive Yuan in 14 days, the MOJ said Tuesday, October 29. The proposed bill aims to amend articles 288 and 290 of the Criminal Code, and revoke Article 292.

Not all abortions are illegal, the MOJ said. Abortions are allowed under the Genetic Health Act if the woman’s bodily autonomy and the right to life of the fetus are respected. However, abortions should be limited, as the fetus is “a living being growing into a person.”

The MOJ described the currently prescribed penalties as “anachronistic.” The proposed increases will make the penalty levels consistent with other crimes in the Criminal Code.

Advocacy group Taiwan Women’s Link (台灣女人連線) said, Friday, November 1, that the MOJ’s proposal was “going backwards, and “in the opposite direction,” claiming that decriminalization of abortion is the global trend. TWL called on the ministry to decriminalize abortion in the spirit of CEDAW (the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women).

TWL, which in its mission statement calls for “creating a cultural and medical shift in how women’s bodies are perceived and addressed in a predominantly patriarchal society,” said that the choice of abortion is an exercise in women’s bodily autonomy, which can be regulated or restricted, but should not be classified as a criminal offence.

“The crime of artificial abortion only punishes women who have an unwanted pregnancy and require an abortion, but does not punish men who have sexual relations with the woman and cause an unwanted pregnancy. This is an obvious differential treatment of women,” TWL said.

TWL criticized the MOJ for increasing the penalties instead of moving towards decriminalization. TWL called on the MOJ to remove abortion from the criminal law code.

According to Global Taiwan Institute, up to 500,000 abortions are performed in Taiwan every year. More conservative estimates posit the number at around 100,000. At the same time, Taiwan’s birthrate is precipitously low. There were only 135,570 live births in 2023, down from 213,600 in 2015.1

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