Two Sessions 2020: top adviser pushes to expand reproductive rights for unmarried women
- CPPCC delegate Peng Jing proposes broader access to technology such as egg freezing and IVF
- Advocates eagerly await response from the National Health Commission on suggestions
Women’s rights advocates have applauded a proposal to China’s top advisory body to expand access to assisted reproductive technology.
Under the country’s existing laws, unmarried women and couples who do not “comply with the population and birth-planning regulations” are banned from using those services at Chinese hospitals and agencies.
Peng suggested that these laws should be changed to allow all women equal access.
She also suggested that the technology needed to be improved to prevent health risks.
On Tuesday, the Southern Metropolis News quoted Peng as saying that existing laws also violated the principle of gender equality, given that men were allowed to preserve their sperm regardless of their marital status but unmarried women could not freeze their eggs.
“Furthermore, it’s no longer realistic to forbid unmarried women from using such technologies,” she was quoted as saying.