A project team of the Liberal Democratic Party has recently compiled a bill on assisted reproductive technologies. It would not only allow donations of sperm and ova from third parties for the purpose of having babies but also conditionally allow surrogate births.
The team hopes to submit the bill to the Diet in the current session, but its prospect is unclear because the LDP is considering other legislation that bans surrogate births in light of the lingering opposition within the party to such births.
Assisted reproductive technologies involve sensitive ethical and legal issues. The LDP team's draft legislation, put together by lawmakers behind closed doors, failed to address some of those issues, leaving them up for future discussion. Informed public discussions on the issue are indispensable.