Pregnant women in Henan Province will need to present a certificate from local family planning departments before being able to terminate a pregnancy starting next year under a new rule.

 

The rule is aimed at deterring people from aborting female fetuses due to preferring male children.

 

The regulation also lays out fines for gender-based abortions and bans pregnancy-terminating medicine from being sold at the province's drug stores.

 

The move is expected to reduce abortions based on the widespread preference for male children, which has led to a tremendous gender imbalance in China. The current ratio of male births to female is 119:100, far above the world ratio of 105:100.

 

According to the new regulation, Henan residents will have to go to specially selected hospitals to learn the gender of a fetus. Three medical professionals must conclude that there is a medically valid reason for terminating a pregnancy before a certificate will be awarded from the mother's local family planning department.

 

Any unlicensed medical agency caught helping people determine the gender of a fetus or conducting an illegal abortion will be fined. Officials will confiscate all equipment and income from the illegal clinics with serious offenders will losing their medical licenses.

 

Women aborting due to gender preference will be fined a sum of 2,000 yuan (US$250). Drug shops caught selling abortion pills will be fined 3,000-20,000 yuan (US$375-2,500). Officials will confiscate the medicine and any illegal income.

 

No Henan officials could be reached for comment.

 

However, an official in Shanghai said that there is some medical basis for testing the gender of fetuses. "Sometimes it is necessary to determine a fetus' gender because doctors need to learn more about the fetus to avoid genetic defects," Wu Xiangyong, a spokesperson for Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission said.

 

It is illegal to employ ultrasound in order to learn the gender of a fetus in China without a valid medical reason. However, some illegal clinics take advantage of the ban by carrying out such tests for women preferring a son to a daughter.

 

"The gender of newborns has been a sensitive issue not just in Henan, but nationwide," said Pei Lei, a resident of Henan Province. "I don't see it happening in the city I live in, but in the countryside, people still favor boys over girls."

 

However, some people think the new rule will only benefit illegal clinics.

 

"Just another impractical regulation," said a netizen posting on Sohu.com who has been following news reports on Henan's new regulation. "It will only benefit the underground clinics and endanger the lives of their women clients."

 

Wu Xiangyong declined to discuss Henan's rule. "I'd say the regulation means well, though I am in no place to judge a regulation in another province," said Wu. "The registered population of Shanghai doesn't show an obvious gender imbalance, but it does exist among the migrant population."

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2006)