Premarital legislation requires re-thinking

Premarital legislation requires re-thinking
Premarital legislation requires re-thinking

2005-07-23 07:19



As Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province resumes the practice of mandatory premarital health checks for couples wanting to tie the knot, the nation is re-engaged in a hot debate over the soundness of the legislation.

Local lawmakers said the regulation was reasonable since it would prevent congenital diseases and reduce the amount of birth defects. They point to statistical evidence that shows an increased number of birth defects in the province after the check-up became optional nationwide in October 2003.

The argument supporting the resumption of the mandatory check-up, however, does not hold water.

Statistics sometimes cheat. Heilongjiang's highlighting of a rising number of birth defects is based on 2004's figures. This one-year period is not long enough to prove any positive correlation between the cancellation of the mandatory policy and the increased number of birth defects. So the results given by local authorities do not make sense from a statistical perspective.

Moreover, even local authorities admitted that birth defects were often caused by factors such as occupational diseases, which are irrelevant to premarital medical check-ups.

A longer tracking time and more specific counting are indispensable before such a policy can be re-enforced.

In a legal sense, the Heilongjiang regulation contradicts existing national laws and regulations.

Currently two laws and a regulation are in play in China related to physical examinations before a couple wed, namely, the Marriage Law, the Law of Mother and Infant Health Care and the Regulation for Marriage Registration.

Although it stipulates that such check-ups are indispensable for a couple that want to marry, the Law of Mother and Infant Health Care was promulgated 10 years ago. The latest Marriage Law and the Regulation for Marriage Registration no longer require the check-ups as a prerequisite for legal marriage.

According to the principle of China's Legislation Law, the latest legislation should be considered when deciding whether a practice can be adopted.

The freedom of marriage is an undisputable civil right. It should not be subject to intervention. Moreover, getting a marriage licence does not necessarily lead to the birth of a child. Imposing mandatory check-ups in the name of preventing birth defects is unfair for those who do not want to have a son or daughter.

Local policy-makers may see it as their duty to protect the health of new couples and their babies, but no protective measures, however well intentioned, should violate the basic right of citizens protected by the law.

Even if there is a rising number of birth defects, and this is linked to the lack of premarital health checks, local authorities should first submit their survey results to national legislators for them to examine whether it is necessary to make any changes to the current laws and regulations. This is the right legal procedure and should be adhered to by all.

From every perspective, it is ill advised for Heilongjiang's provincial lawmakers to draft the regulation for mandatory premarital medical check-ups.

It is even more worrying to hear that other provinces are reportedly considering following suit. This switching of stances shows a fundamental lack of understanding for the basic civil right of marriage.

Admittedly, premarital medical check-ups, like any ordinary physical examinations, could help people uncover health conditions. But it's going too far to make them a prerequisite for the granting of a marriage licence.

To reduce the number of birth defects, pre-pregnancy checks are a sound alternative, an avenue taken by many couples.

It's good that the government is promoting information about healthy births, but it's dangerous for a local legislature to hammer out laws imposing mandatory premarital health checks - even in the name of protecting people's well-being.


(China Daily 07/23/2005 page4)