National Assembly Delegate Hoang Thi Thu Hien (Nghe An): Perfecting regulations for sustainable population development

Discussing at Group 7 (National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An and Lam Dong provinces) on October 23, regarding the draft Law on Population, National Assembly Delegate Hoang Thi Thu Hien said that there are still many points that need to be reviewed and perfected to ensure feasibility, suitability with reality and association with the national development strategy in the new context.

Increase predictability, avoid overlapping in regulations

Speaking at the discussion session, delegate Hoang Thi Thu Hien ( Nghe An ) pointed out the current reality that in some areas with conditions to improve population quality, the birth rate is low and vice versa, most clearly shown in some large cities where the birth rate is lower than the replacement rate. Therefore, the delegate suggested that the draft Law needs to have provisions with a long-term vision and high predictability to create a clear change in population work.

National Assembly Delegate Hoang Thi Thu Hien (Nghe An) speaks. Photo: Pham Thang

Going into specific content, delegates assessed that the draft law stipulates that adjusting population size based solely on economic , social, resource, and environmental factors is not enough, but also needs to take into account social psychological factors and population development trends; especially, based on national development goals and strategies and national security.

Regarding the provisions related to prohibited acts, delegate Hoang Thi Thu Hien said that it is unnecessary to include the content of "propaganda, dissemination or information with content contrary to the Party's guidelines, policies, and the State's laws, negatively affecting population work". Because these acts have been regulated in other laws, such as the Press Law, the Cyber ​​Security Law and the Penal Code.

The delegate also suggested that the provisions on prohibiting the selection of the sex of the fetus in Clause 3 and Clause 4, Article 6 be merged into a unified clause to avoid duplication and make the legal document clearer and easier to understand. In addition, the content of "asexual cloning" mentioned in Article 6 is not really suitable for the population field, so it should be considered to remove it or transfer it to a specialized document on biotechnology and medicine, and the terminology should be clarified if it is to be retained.

Regarding Article 7 related to communication, mobilization and population education , delegates said that the regulation requiring communication to be “accurate, timely, clear, simple and practical” are professional criteria and do not need to be stipulated in the law. This should be specifically regulated in professional guidance documents. In addition, the regulation on priority subjects in communication work is currently too broad and lacks direction and needs to be drafted more specifically to ensure effective communication.

Regarding the responsibility of the press as stipulated in Clause 4, Article 9, the delegate proposed to amend in the direction of clearly defining the specialized agency as the presiding unit, responsible for orienting the content, and coordinating with press agencies in population communication work. The press is a means of transmission, and it is not possible to stipulate the responsibility of the media as in the current draft.

Regarding the forms of communication listed in Article 10, the delegate said that it is unnecessary to list in too much detail the forms such as direct, indirect, through mass media, campaigns, etc. The law should only stipulate the framework, assigning the Government and the Ministry of Health to provide specific instructions for flexible implementation in practice.

Towards sustainable population development

According to delegate Hoang Thi Thu Hien, the regulations on reasonable population distribution in Article 16 are currently contradictory and difficult to implement. The draft mentions planning for population distribution and attracting workers to disadvantaged areas, but there are no specific accompanying policies on infrastructure, housing, employment, public services, etc. Therefore, if it only stops at principles, it will be very difficult to implement in practice.

Overview of the discussion session. Photo: Pham Thang

Regarding the regulations related to the elderly, the delegates said that the phrase “obstructing the elderly from exercising their legal rights” is still vague and difficult to understand. They suggested that the drafting agency should clarify the scope and handling methods, and clearly distinguish between illegal acts and acts of ethical and social responsibility so that the law is easy to access and easy to enforce.

Regarding the content of gender balance and the right to know the gender of the fetus stipulated in Article 15, the delegate said that the draft still has many unclear points. It is unnecessary to prohibit medical practitioners from revealing the gender of the fetus to prevent gender selection. Because in reality, it is impossible to prohibit it. In addition, it is necessary to ensure the legitimate right of the mother to know information about the fetus. Is her child a boy or a girl? The mother needs to be mentally prepared and have other conditions when the child is born. The mother needs to know whether the child is a boy or a girl in order to have a prenatal education method suitable for the gender of the fetus.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/dbqh-hoang-thi-thu-hien-nghe-an-hoan-thien-cac-quy-dinh-de-phat-trien-dan-so-ben-vung-10392639.html