Chinese Lawmakers Propose Criminalizing Detection of Fetal Sex for Nonmedical Reasons To Prevent Sex-Selective Abortion

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 03 Mar 2005 - 1:00 PDT

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In advance of the 2005 legislative session, China's top lawmakers have proposed legislation that would criminalize the detection of a fetus's gender for nonmedical reasons in order to prevent sex-selective abortion and ease the resulting gender imbalance in the nation, the AP/Yahoo! News reports (AP/Yahoo! News, 2/26). According to the latest government statistics, 119 boys are born for every 100 girls in the country, and the disparity is even wider in some rural areas. Although sex-selective abortion is banned in China, the increasing availability of technologies such as ultrasound procedures have made it easier to learn the sex of a fetus early in pregnancy (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 1/10). Currently, physicians who help patients determine a fetus's sex for nonmedical reasons face only administrative penalties. The proposed legislation would allow criminal charges to be brought against such physicians, although the possible penalties have not yet been released. In addition, it is unclear whether parents seeking to learn the gender of a fetus for nonmedical reasons also would face criminal charges (AP/Yahoo! News, 2/26). Jiang Zhuping, a member of the Standing Committee of China's legislature, said that the law should specifically state that sex-selective abortion and nonmedical embryo testing are illegal and clarify that licensed physicians may face criminal prosecution for violating the law (Wang, South China Morning Post, 2/28).

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