避「罪」之道－－從月經規則術引進看1970年代台灣墮胎史

Evading the Law:Abortion in Taiwan during the 1970s: A Case Study of Menstrual Regulation

戰後台灣禁止墮胎，至1984年《優生保健法》通過，方放寬墮胎的限制。早在1974年，便有婦產科醫師託詞懷孕六週內（即月經遲來兩週內）的驗孕誤差較大，於期限內施行月經規則術，或可規避墮胎罪。不過，在此之前，每年都有成千上萬次的墮胎發生，實際上僅有少數人獲罪。月經規則術引進台灣後，對墮胎罪判刑人數消長的影響亦不明顯。其最大貢獻，可能是讓婦產科醫師能堂而皇之地引介新技術以招睞婦女，比起過去在報上登小廣告正當許多，也創造更多的墮胎利潤。

Abortion wasn't legal in Taiwan until the Genetic Health Law was passed in 1984. After 1974, some gynecologists strongly recommended ‘menstrual regulation'(abbr. MR) surgery so as not to break the abortion law. MR was performed in the first two weeks after LMP(the last menstrual period) when a pregnancy test would be too inaccurate to prove the existence of an embryo. In fact, the law was not effectively enforced and very few people were punished for abortion, and there were tens of thousands of abortions happening each year. Compared to the number of convictions for abortion before and after MR was introduced, the influence of MR is not obvious. The most significant contribution of MR for gynecologists perhaps was that it offered them more opportunities to make a fortune and to peddle the trade of abortion to women openly and righteously rather than advertising illegal abortion services in newspapers.