The Ministry of Health said?Wednesday it would continue to
encourage couples to get medical check-ups before tying the knot,
despite the introduction of a new legislation meaning this is no
longer compulsory.
?The new regulation, which aims to simplify the
registration process, has been approved by the State Council and
will come into effect on October 1.
Couples were previously required to undergo compulsory medicals
if they wanted to get married.
The move is socially progressive and shows improved respect for
human rights given that the new regulation has turned the mandatory
premarital physical check-up into a voluntary action, the spokesman
said.
A statement issued by the ministry on Tuesday said that a
premarital physical check-up would still be helpful to a couple's
future family life in order to detect severe hereditary diseases,
communicable diseases and mental illness.
Medical departments giving such check-ups should provide high
quality and personalized services and should respect people's
privacy, the statement said.
Wu Changzhen, a marriage law expert with the China University of
Politics and Law, said that cancellation of mandatory physical
check-ups does not mean that premarital physical check-ups have
been banned.
"I encourage couples to take a physical check-up before marriage
because it helps to guarantee a healthier birth in the future," Wu
said.
A leading professor of marriage and family law claimed that
there were no legal ground for the cancellation of premarital
physical check-ups.
"The so-called cancellation of the check-ups is a kind of
misunderstanding of the newly enacted regulation on marriage
registration," said Yang Dawen, a professor with the Law School of
Renmin University of
China.
The regulation does not stipulate whether the couples should
undergo physical check-ups before marriage registration. But the
result of the check-ups is not listed as required documents that
couples should present to marriage registrar to get the
certificate.
Yang said the absence of a clear stipulation in the regulation
does not mean the check-ups will be cancelled.
The Law on Mother and Infant Healthcare stipulate that couples
should undergo physical check-ups before getting married. Yang said
the law, which was passed by the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress in 1994, is superior to the regulation and
enforcement of this law should prevail. The law says that the
governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities
should work out their own regulations on premarriage physical
check-ups.
The Beijing Health Bureau recently said that it will enforce the
law on mother and infant healthcare until it is amended or
abolished.
But it is known that some hospitals use the check-up service to
make money by usually providing nominal and less than reliable test
results.
(China Daily September 4, 2003)