Intersection of Law and Ethics : Immigration Law, Right of Abode in HKSAR
Intersection of Law and Ethics : Immigration Law, Right of abode in HKSAR
Introduction
This paper is to investigate the case of recent action taken by the Hong Kong Government to suspend new bookings of obstetric service from non-local pregnant women in public hospital, especially to those mainland women, in order to protect right of Hong Kong women. The sudden cut affects a group of mainland women with spouse as Hong Kong permanent residents and they complain the injustice phenomenon, that arise ethical dilemma to discuss which is the aim of this paper.
Background
The Hospital Authority in Hong Kong announced on 8 April, 2011 that public hospitals have immediately stopped accepting new bookings of obstetric service from outsiders (non-HK citizens) until the year’s end, in order to ensure local women receive adequate obstetric care. This is a big shock to most mainland pregnant women who were planning to deliver their babies here in Hong Kong aimed at ensuring their children benefit from Hong Kong’s enviable freedoms and social welfare system, and also can escape from the one-child policy in mainland China. This Hong Kong birth certificate are regarded by many as document that can change one’s destiny.
This act of the Government is apprehensible from the data of local and non-local pregnant women giving birth in public hospitals in the past five years. Together with the data from private hospitals, it soared from a few hundreds in 2004 to around 40,000 last year, contributing nearly 40% of total new born rate (88,000) in Hong Kong. The Government is encountering many problems. This is straining HK’s overall health-care system, not only on obstetric services (affecting those for the local mothers), but also infants intensive care units, and future health-care services (there were even outstanding obstetric fees when some mainland mums who left the hospitals). Brain-drained problem of medical professionals due to the tremendous workload in the
Introduction
This paper is to investigate the case of recent action taken by the Hong Kong Government to suspend new bookings of obstetric service from non-local pregnant women in public hospital, especially to those mainland women, in order to protect right of Hong Kong women. The sudden cut affects a group of mainland women with spouse as Hong Kong permanent residents and they complain the injustice phenomenon, that arise ethical dilemma to discuss which is the aim of this paper.
Background
The Hospital Authority in Hong Kong announced on 8 April, 2011 that public hospitals have immediately stopped accepting new bookings of obstetric service from outsiders (non-HK citizens) until the year’s end, in order to ensure local women receive adequate obstetric care. This is a big shock to most mainland pregnant women who were planning to deliver their babies here in Hong Kong aimed at ensuring their children benefit from Hong Kong’s enviable freedoms and social welfare system, and also can escape from the one-child policy in mainland China. This Hong Kong birth certificate are regarded by many as document that can change one’s destiny.
This act of the Government is apprehensible from the data of local and non-local pregnant women giving birth in public hospitals in the past five years. Together with the data from private hospitals, it soared from a few hundreds in 2004 to around 40,000 last year, contributing nearly 40% of total new born rate (88,000) in Hong Kong. The Government is encountering many problems. This is straining HK’s overall health-care system, not only on obstetric services (affecting those for the local mothers), but also infants intensive care units, and future health-care services (there were even outstanding obstetric fees when some mainland mums who left the hospitals). Brain-drained problem of medical professionals due to the tremendous workload in the
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