China plans tougher laws on sex-selective abortions
Sunday, 26 August 2007
BEIJING, Aug 25 (AFP): Fearing the approach of a ticking "bachelor bomb," China is planning tougher laws against sex- selective abortions, state media said Saturday.
The State Council, or cabinet, is planning special regulations that specify punishments for parents and doctors that abort foetuses after discovering that they are female, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Abortions motivated merely by gender are already illegal in China, but existing laws do not describe the applicable punishment for such acts, according to Xinhua. It gave no timetable for the new rules.
The sex ratio among Chinese toddlers is becoming ever more Skewed as a direct results of the nation's one-child policy.
In some parts of the vast country, sex-selective abortions have caused a situation where there are more than three boys for every two girls, Xinhua said in a separate report.
Demographers are increasingly warning of the dangers the trend poses to social stability in China.
The greatest worry is the huge army of bachelors that will result, with an estimated 30 million more women than men.
Some argue those numbers of men could become a force for social instability, while others have said they are likely to belong to the most disadvantaged layers of society, and therefore will not be equipped to make much trouble. Under the one-child policy, introduced in about 1980, China's urban dwellers are allowed one child, while rural families can have two if the first is a girl.
Despite its unpopularity, the policy has been effective in slowing China's demographic growth.
At 1.3 billion people it already has the world's biggest population, but it is expected to be overtaken by India some time this century.
The State Council, or cabinet, is planning special regulations that specify punishments for parents and doctors that abort foetuses after discovering that they are female, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Abortions motivated merely by gender are already illegal in China, but existing laws do not describe the applicable punishment for such acts, according to Xinhua. It gave no timetable for the new rules.
The sex ratio among Chinese toddlers is becoming ever more Skewed as a direct results of the nation's one-child policy.
In some parts of the vast country, sex-selective abortions have caused a situation where there are more than three boys for every two girls, Xinhua said in a separate report.
Demographers are increasingly warning of the dangers the trend poses to social stability in China.
The greatest worry is the huge army of bachelors that will result, with an estimated 30 million more women than men.
Some argue those numbers of men could become a force for social instability, while others have said they are likely to belong to the most disadvantaged layers of society, and therefore will not be equipped to make much trouble. Under the one-child policy, introduced in about 1980, China's urban dwellers are allowed one child, while rural families can have two if the first is a girl.
Despite its unpopularity, the policy has been effective in slowing China's demographic growth.
At 1.3 billion people it already has the world's biggest population, but it is expected to be overtaken by India some time this century.