A fetus is not a person, Taiwan court rules in child neglect case

Taipei, April 1 (CNA) A married couple who frequently smoked meth at home during the wife's pregnancy cannot be sentenced for impeding their child's development, since Taiwan's Criminal Code does not treat an unborn fetus as a person, a Kaohsiung court has ruled.

According to the verdict by the Kaohsiung District Court, the father surnamed Chen (陳) and mother surnamed Lin (林) frequently smoked meth in their Siaogang District home in the presence of both their 1-year-old son and the baby that Lin was pregnant with.

Specifically, the court said, the couple was found to have used meth multiple times from March 2024 up until 12 hours before their second child was born on Sept. 4 of that year.

Following intervention by the city's Social Affairs Bureau, hair samples from the couple's 1-year-old son were taken for testing at an area hospital, where they were found to contain high concentrations of methamphetamine, indicating serious impairment of the child's development.

Kaohsiung prosecutors later indicted the couple for offenses of impeding the development of children under age 7, both for their first child and the second child that Lin was pregnant with at the time of the offense.

In a verdict made public Wednesday, the Kaohsiung District Court said Chen and Lin could not be found guilty for the crime with regard to their second child, since a fetus is not considered a "person" under Taiwan's Criminal Code, with personhood defined as beginning at birth.

Meanwhile, the court found Chen guilty of impeding the development of the couple's first child, and, noting that this was his second drug-related conviction in five years, sentenced him to 1 year and two months in prison.

Considering that Lin had no previous criminal record, confessed her crime, and had learned a lesson from the investigation, she was given a one-year sentence, suspended for four years.

Lin was also placed under probation during the suspended sentence period, required to take five parenting-related legal education courses, and prohibited from engaging in any kind of domestic violence or maltreatment against her children, the court said.

The ruling can be appealed.

Fetuses in Taiwanese law

Although abortion-related crimes remain part of Taiwan's Criminal Code, abortion was effectively legalized with the passage of the Reproductive Health Act in 1984.

Abortion is generally allowed up to 24 weeks, for reasons such as illness, pregnancy risks, fetal abnormalities, or factors that affect the pregnant woman's mental health or family life.

The procedure must be conducted by an authorized doctor, and must be done with the consent of the spouse if the woman is married, or a parent or guardian if she is a minor.

According to the Plain Law Movement website, there were around 50,000 to 60,000 surgical or medical abortions per year between 2021 and 2023, compared to only six prosecutions and four guilty verdicts for illegal abortions from 2019 to 2023.