J-10
02-28-2005, 02:22 AM
Chinese lawmakers suggest making it a crime to test foetus for gender
Sun Feb 27, 8:34 AM ET Health - AFP
BEIJING (AFP) - Chinese lawmakers are suggesting making it a criminal act to conduct ultrasound tests on foetuses merely to determine their ***.
The step, which is aimed at stemming a wave of abortions of female foetuses, was proposed at a meeting of legislators on Friday, the state's Beijing Youth Daily reported.
The issue could be discussed at the annual gathering of the National People's Congress, or parliament, in early March.
China's stringent and often coercive one-child policy, enforced some 20 years ago, has long been blamed for contributing to the gender imbalance problem as families abort female foetuses and seek boys as their only child.
Currently 119 boys are born for every 100 girls, much higher than a global newborn *** ratio of 103-107 boys for 100 girls.
Last month the Ministry of National Population and Family Planning Commission said China was planning to strengthen laws banning selective abortions of female foetuses.
"As a new measure, the commission will start drafting revisions to the criminal law in order to effectively ban foetus gender detection and selective abortion," Family Planning Minister Zhang Weiqing said then.
From (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050227/hl_afp/chinagenderabortion_050227133451)
Sun Feb 27, 8:34 AM ET Health - AFP
BEIJING (AFP) - Chinese lawmakers are suggesting making it a criminal act to conduct ultrasound tests on foetuses merely to determine their ***.
The step, which is aimed at stemming a wave of abortions of female foetuses, was proposed at a meeting of legislators on Friday, the state's Beijing Youth Daily reported.
The issue could be discussed at the annual gathering of the National People's Congress, or parliament, in early March.
China's stringent and often coercive one-child policy, enforced some 20 years ago, has long been blamed for contributing to the gender imbalance problem as families abort female foetuses and seek boys as their only child.
Currently 119 boys are born for every 100 girls, much higher than a global newborn *** ratio of 103-107 boys for 100 girls.
Last month the Ministry of National Population and Family Planning Commission said China was planning to strengthen laws banning selective abortions of female foetuses.
"As a new measure, the commission will start drafting revisions to the criminal law in order to effectively ban foetus gender detection and selective abortion," Family Planning Minister Zhang Weiqing said then.
From (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050227/hl_afp/chinagenderabortion_050227133451)