Assisted reproductive technology (ART) services will soon be limited to a hospital setting in Macao, making the likes of in vitro fertilisation less accessible. On Monday, the Legislative Assembly passed a government-initiated bill to regulate these services, the Macau Post Daily reports.
At yesterday’s plenary session, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao said the new law would make ART services safer for patients. “We need to perform the procedure in a suitable venue – this is the matter here,” she reiterated.
According to Ao, strict regulations were justified by hospitals’ higher standards for medical equipment and staffing qualifications.
Under the new law, ART services will only be permitted for use by childless couples – and for treating serious hereditary diseases. The law stipulates that ART services must only be used as a supplementary method of procreation, not as an alternative method of procreation.
[See more: Financial help could soon be available to couples seeking medically assisted reproduction]
Currently, ART services – including the storage of fertilised human eggs – are available at many health clinics around the city. This will not be the case early next year, when the bill is set to become law.
In previous plenary sessions, Health Bureau official Leong Pui San has pointed out that while ART can bring hope for childless couples – it also raises issues around ethics and morality. Leong has said that the inadequate provision of assisted reproduction can be risky for patients’ health, noting that both Hong Kong and Taiwan have specific legislation in place to regulate its use.
Figures released in March put the territory’s birth rate at 6.4 per thousand, the lowest since 1985.
