A debate on the criminalization of sex identification of embryos
for pregnant women between Chinese lawmakers resumed on
Tuesday.
The provision in the draft Sixth Amendment of the Criminal Code
had been proposed as a way to prevent the marked imbalance in
births towards males.
However, the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress (NPC) was sharply divided when the issue came up
in the first of three legislative reviews last December.
Members heard in the second review Tuesday that the draft law
provided penalties of up to three years in jail, probation and
fines for those involved in gender identification of embryos for
non-medical purposes.
A Standing Committee official said that some members considered
the provision necessary to curb the country's abnormal sex ratio
and prevent the use of abortion as a means of sex selection.
Opponents maintained the law was unreasonable and impossible to
police as evidence of any crime would be hard to collect and it
would be difficult to judge if an abortion had come about because
of sex identification.
Considering the significant differences the NPC Law Committee
left the provision unchanged and the draft amendment had been
submitted to the Standing Committee for further review, he
said.
Statistics from the State Family Planning Commission show 117
boys born for every 100 girls in China which is well above the
international average of 107 males to 104 females.
(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2006)