No reasons to oppose euthanasia, surrogacy, Ko saysStaff writer, with CNATaiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said he would seek to “gauge public opinion” on assisted suicide and surrogacy, despite “personally” supporting legalization. Chen Chao-tzu (陳昭姿), a former head of the pro-independence Taiwan Society and long-time advocate of surrogacy, told the news conference she had been pushing for the legislation of surrogacy since 1996. Chen asked why the government encourages couples to have children amid the country’s low birthrate, but has ignored couples who would do anything to have their own children through surrogacy. In 2004, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), then-health minister, held the first-ever “civic conference” in Taiwan to discuss surrogacy and arrived at the consensus to “not prohibit surrogacy, but only permit it with conditions,” Chen Chao-tzu said. Chen Chao-tzu told Ko that she would support Ko in the presidential election as long as Ko would include legalizing surrogacy as a component of his healthcare platform.
