The Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday passed a government-initiated bill regulating assisted reproductive technology (ART) services.
The bill will become law 180 days after its promulgation in the Official Gazette (BO).
The bill’s outline was passed during a plenary session of the legislature in December last year. The legislature’s 2nd Standing Committee held several meetings to review the bill.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U attended yesterday’s plenary session when the bill was voted on article-by-article in its second and final reading.
Macau currently does not have a specific law regulating ART services.
The strictly regulated ART services listed by the new law can only be used for the treatment for childless couples as well as for the treatment of serious hereditary diseases.
The new law stipulates that assisted reproductive technology adopted in Macau is understood to be only a supplementary method of procreation, rather than an alternative method of procreation.
Ao Ieong underlined during yesterday’s plenary session that according to the new law, ART services can only be provided by hospitals, meaning that clinics and other health institutions will be barred from providing such services.
Ao Ieong pointed out that medical equipment requirements and staffing qualifications at a clinic usually are of lower standards than at hospitals.
