by Brian Hioe

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Photo Credit: Solomon203/WikiCommons/CC BY-SA 3.0

IN AN UNFORTUNATE move earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided not to move forward on listing emergency contraceptives as an over-the-counter (OTC) drug. Instead, emergency contraceptives will remain as a prescription drug, requiring a visit to a doctor.

The move has been criticized, particularly in light of the fact that 80% of developed countries allow for emergency contraceptives as an OTC drug. For its part, the FDA claims that there is a lack of social consensus on the issue, and that there is a need to consult further with expert opinion on safety.

Groups such as the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation and the Federation of Taiwan Pharmacists Associations support listing emergency contraceptives as an OTC drug. However, the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology opposes the move, claiming that there are dangers to the misuse of emergency contraceptives. The Taiwan Women’s Rescue Foundation has, on the other hand, emphasized that emergency contraceptives are not a high-risk drug. Some legislators, such as TPP lawmaker Lin Yi-chun, too, are supportive of reclassifying emergency contraceptives.

Taiwan has received international accolades for its progressiveness in terms of sexual freedoms in recent years. This has occurred through actions such as electing the first female president, appointing the first transgender government minister, and legalizing same-sex marriage. The latter act made Taiwan the first country in Asia to do so.

At the same time, there are ways in which Taiwan remains highly conservative on some issues. This is true whether with regard to sexuality or other issues.

One prominent example is abortion rights. For abortions to take place in Taiwan, spousal consent is still required in Taiwan.

To this extent, there are still no legal provisions for no-fault divorces in Taiwan. Adultery was only decriminalized in Taiwan in May 2020.

Indeed, divorce regulations in Taiwan led to the emergence of an industry of private detectives that often stalk, threaten, and harass individuals to obtain evidence for divorce proceedings. This is one way in which marriage laws in Taiwan have had a negative impact on society.

Otherwise, the public remains divided on issues such as legalizing surrogacy. Criticism from women’s groups has usually been that surrogacy would be a way of commercializing women’s bodies, with the suggestion that a surrogacy system would be abused or primarily consist of women who are in financial need. This has led those seeking surrogates to look outside of Taiwan.

It is to be seen how to change social attitudes in Taiwan regarding emergency contraception, then. One notes that sex education, regarding sexually transmitted diseases and infections, is also lacking in Taiwan. This more broadly points to a need to change education regarding sexuality in Taiwan.

This is complicated by the KMT pushback against gender equality education that is perceived as LGBTQ-friendly. This, too, may pertain to attitudes regarding emergency contraceptives. Yet at the same time, although the pan-Blue camp and pan-Green camp are frequently at odds, it is improbable that there would not be some members of both political camps who support reclassification. Even so, it remains a question of how to change broader social attitudes.
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