Tuesday, June 27, 2006
China's Crackdown on Sex-Selection Abortions Stalls
From LifeNews
The headline assumes that they were earnest about this in the first place. Looking at the recent developments, China's intent here is unclear at best.
The Chinese government has decided it will not prohibit abortions used to prevent the birth of girl babies even though sex-selection abortions have contributed to a stark gender imbalance that is creating a host of social problems. The nation's state-owned media reported the plan to scrap the idea.
China now has 119 boys for ever 100 girls, a gender imbalance that is far from the normal 103-100 ratio seen in industrialized nations across the globe. The imbalance has given rise to a culture of massive sex-trafficking and the kidnapping of teenagers and young adults to be forced into marriage.
Though it has started to crack down on the use of ultrasound machines to determine the gender of an unborn child, Chinese lawmakers could not agree on penalties for sex-selection abortions for those who get around the policy.
Zhou Kunren, the vice-chairman of the parliamentary Law Committee, told China-run media that lawmakers could not come together to finalize the amendment to the nation's criminal law. He indicated some lawmakers want to pass the sex-selection abortion ban to fix the gender imbalance but others disagree.
"However, other experts argue it is inappropriate to criminalize such practice because pregnant women enjoy the right to know the sex of the fetus," he said.
Somehow I'm skeptical that what scuttled this policy was the individual rights of women in China. Why would Chinese policymakers allow this practice to continue when it is so obviously destructive to their society? The only benefits I can see are a surplus of unmarried men that can be conscripted into the People's Liberation Army, and the way it contributes to the Chinese goverment's depopulation goals.
The headline assumes that they were earnest about this in the first place. Looking at the recent developments, China's intent here is unclear at best.
The Chinese government has decided it will not prohibit abortions used to prevent the birth of girl babies even though sex-selection abortions have contributed to a stark gender imbalance that is creating a host of social problems. The nation's state-owned media reported the plan to scrap the idea.
China now has 119 boys for ever 100 girls, a gender imbalance that is far from the normal 103-100 ratio seen in industrialized nations across the globe. The imbalance has given rise to a culture of massive sex-trafficking and the kidnapping of teenagers and young adults to be forced into marriage.
Though it has started to crack down on the use of ultrasound machines to determine the gender of an unborn child, Chinese lawmakers could not agree on penalties for sex-selection abortions for those who get around the policy.
Zhou Kunren, the vice-chairman of the parliamentary Law Committee, told China-run media that lawmakers could not come together to finalize the amendment to the nation's criminal law. He indicated some lawmakers want to pass the sex-selection abortion ban to fix the gender imbalance but others disagree.
"However, other experts argue it is inappropriate to criminalize such practice because pregnant women enjoy the right to know the sex of the fetus," he said.
Somehow I'm skeptical that what scuttled this policy was the individual rights of women in China. Why would Chinese policymakers allow this practice to continue when it is so obviously destructive to their society? The only benefits I can see are a surplus of unmarried men that can be conscripted into the People's Liberation Army, and the way it contributes to the Chinese goverment's depopulation goals.
papijoe 7:51 AM
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