The first legislation to prevent gender imbalance at birth is soon
to become a reality in Fujian, a rich province on the south coast
of China that has come to realize the severity of the gender
imbalance birth rate (more boys than girls) that has occurred since
the 1990s and it is now trying to do something about it.
China News Agency reported recently that the Standing
Committee of Fujian Provincial People's Congress is currently busy
considering the draft proposal, "Prevention Ordinance Against the
Gender Imbalances at Birth in Fujian". After experiencing more than
20 years of serious gender imbalance problems, Fujian made up its
mind to do something about it.
Both the nation-wide census in 1990 and in 2000 show that Fujian
ranks in the top ten provinces for a gender imbalance birth rate,
higher than the national average while China is well above the
worldwide norm. Apart from some mistakes in statistics, the main
reason put forward for this is that couples choose male embryos
once they know the sex of the baby and terminate the pregnancy if a
baby girl. Fujian has found more than 50 cases of termination in
this manner as well as cases involving dozens of women who aborted
their baby girls after they knew their sex.
To
curb this phenomenon, early in 1996, the Standing Committee of
Fujian Provincial People's Congress passed a regulation called,
"Fujian Province Prohibits Non-medical Sex Selection", which marked
the first sort of local legislation in China.
Therefore to stop the growth of gender imbalance at birth, further
and tougher measures are needed. "Prevention Ordinance Against the
Gender Imbalances at Birth in Fujian", is now being discussed by
the third meeting of the Standing Committee of 10th Fujian
Provincial People's Congress, taking concrete measures on sex
selection, pregnancy termination operations and the sale of
termination tablets.
(China.org.cn June 4, 2003)