The Chinese government issued a regulation recently banning
abortion intended to select the sex of the baby.
The regulation, jointly issued by the State Commission for
Population and Family Planning, the Ministry of Health and the
State Food and Drug Administration, aims to discourage the
discriminatory practice of giving preference to male babies over
females, Friday's Beijing Daily reported.
According to the regulation, determining the sex of the fetus and
then aborting can only be done for medical reasons. No medical
organizations or persons are allowed to do so for other reasons or
without approval from health departments.
Traditionally in China, boys were more welcome than girls because
boys were considered the ones who would carry on the ancestral
line. In the past years in some areas, especially rural areas,
families would choose to abort to keep only boys.
According to the new regulation, the local health administration
department will decide the names of hospitals qualified to perform
sex-determining exams and abortions.
When determining the sex of the fetus, the hospital must set up a
team of at least three experts. Doctors who perform the procedure
must also verify the name of the pregnant woman and have the
certificate of diagnosis and other related papers before the
abortion.
Abortion-inducing medicine can only be used in the designated
hospitals and family planning departments, said the regulation.
The regulation also clarified the punishment for those who violate
the regulation.
(Xinhua News Agency March 22, 2003)