A few words: Why surrogacy cannot be abandoned in other countries, and about abortion

Niu Niu: I don’t understand why abortion is illegal in some countries. It is said that it is for religious reasons. Is this true?

Binghai: This is a very complicated issue. The United States may be the country with the most intense contradictions on this issue. It cannot be said that abortion is illegal in the United States, but there are different restrictions. This is not necessarily a religious issue. Some countries with similar religious beliefs may have more relaxed policies, while other countries or regions may have stricter policies.

Niu Niu: So what are the typical regulations in countries and regions around the world?

Ice Sea: For example, the UK allows abortion for fetuses before 18 weeks, while abortion after 18 weeks is an infringement of the fetus's right to life; Ohio in the United States prohibits abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy, while Italy stipulates that abortion is legal within 90 days of pregnancy; Switzerland stipulates that abortion is legal within 12 weeks of pregnancy; Romania does not allow abortion; Ireland allows women to have abortions abroad; and Taiwan, my country stipulates that abortion is not allowed except in dangerous situations; South Korea allows abortion for medical, eugenics and legal reasons. However, Japan, mainland China, France, Sweden, Spain, etc. all allow abortion.

Niu Niu: It seems very complicated. What are the reasons for countries and regions that do not allow abortion?

Binghai: Some claim to be religions, some, like the Ohio state in the United States, claim to be based on heartbeats because they believe that fetuses generally have heartbeats at 6 weeks old, and some are based on the belief that fetuses have the brain thinking ability after several weeks.

Niu Niu: Do different countries determine whether a fetus is considered a human being and at what stage it is considered a human being based on their own culture?

Binghai: Not necessarily, because if it is regulated by "whether it is considered a person or not", then theoretically Ohio should stipulate that if a heartbeat can be heard, no matter how many weeks, abortion is not allowed, while if a heartbeat cannot be heard, it is allowed. And if we only look at it from the perspective of "whether it is considered a person or not", it is logically contradictory. Although abortion is allowed in our country, Article 1,155 of the new "Civil Code" stipulates that when the estate is divided, the fetus's inheritance share should be reserved. If the fetus is dead when it is delivered, the reserved share shall be handled in accordance with the statutory inheritance. You see, the estate is counted as a share of the fetus, and if the fetus is dead, this share shall also be handled in accordance with the statutory inheritance. Isn't it logically recognizing that the fetus is a person? Therefore, in essence, this is not necessarily a definition issue of "whether it is considered a person or not". It is that the arrow is shot first and the target is drawn later.

Niu Niu: What does that mean?

Binghai: In my opinion, first there is a law that can balance all social classes, and then a definition is given. For example, in country A, some people proposed 6 weeks, some proposed 12 weeks, some proposed 90 days, and some proposed full permission. Then whichever proposal has the least resistance and the least social contradiction is more likely to pass. In the end, 12 weeks may be chosen as the least opposed by all sectors of society in the country, so the reasons for 12 weeks are found. That is, first bargaining, and then there are reasons. Of course, this is just a personal observation. Anyway, this is not a scientific issue. How to make it legal really depends on the culture of the country.

Niu Niu: It seems to be getting more and more complicated. So are there values ​​that are less influenced by cultural background or less influenced by cultural background?

Binghai: Yes, on the 2018 International Safe Abortion Day, UN experts called on countries to legalize abortion and give women the right to abortion. The reason is that "unsafe abortion causes the death of about 47,000 women each year, and another 5 million suffer some form of temporary or permanent disability. Maternal death violates the rights to life, health, equality and freedom from discrimination."

Niu Niu: What does this have to do with the legality of abortion?

Binghai: It’s a big deal. If women cannot freely choose abortion, some dangerous pregnancies will occur. What’s more serious is that since hospitals with abortion technology won’t allow it, people will choose to go to black clinics instead, which further leads to danger and inhumanity for pregnant women and fetuses.

Niu Niu: Social issues are so complicated. Preventing abortion may seem like a good thing to respect life, but it may indirectly kill more lives in the end.

Binghai: That's right. Although I personally support the legalization of abortion, to be honest, I can't be completely sure that I am right. I can only continue to watch the attack and defense of the abortion issue in each US presidential election. It is still very interesting. Sometimes it may even become a tool for social division - the answer itself is not important, what is important is to distinguish between groups of people and let that group of people stand on my side.