Chinese lawmakers have decided to abolish an amendment to the
Criminal Law that makes sex-based abortions illegal, according to a
senior lawmaker in Beijing on Saturday.
Big differences remain over the amendment, which calls for jail
terms of up to three years for those involved in abortion
procedures based on the sex of the fetus, according to Zhou Kunren,
vice-chairman of the Law Committee of the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress (NPC).
Some lawmakers and family planning officials support the
amendment because of the current serious imbalance in gender ratio,
a situation that has been blamed largely on sex-based
abortions.
China has 119 boys born for every 100 girls, much higher than
the global ratio of 103 to 107 boys for every 100 girls, according
to Xinhua.
However, other experts argue that it is inappropriate to
criminalize such practices because women have the right to know the
sex of their fetuses.
A previous amendment was discussed by NPC Standing Committee
members in April.
The NPC Standing Committee opened its six-day 22nd session on
Saturday when members held the first hearing on three draft laws
known as the emergency management law, the anti-monopoly law and
the farmers co-operatives law.
They will also review a draft sixth amendment to the criminal
law, a draft amendment to the compulsory education law and a draft
law on supervision.
(China Daily June 26, 2006)