CHANGCHUN: Doctors in Northeast China's Jilin Province who illegally perform gender testing on fetuses or sex-selective abortions will face dismissal under new measures aimed at controlling the province's rapidly growing gender imbalance.

The authorities also ordered private clinics and pharmacies to stop selling abortion drugs, and prohibited makers of abortion drugs from selling them on a wholesale basis. Infractions will be severely punished.

"Doctors who illegally test the gender of a fetus or perform sex-selective abortions will immediately lose their jobs. Their supervisors will also be dismissed for dereliction of duty if the circumstances prove serious enough to constitute a crime," said a statement jointly issued by Jilin provincial population and family planning commission and provincial supervision department.

In addition, only specified hospitals and medical institutions will be allowed to use ultrasound technology, and only then to monitor a fetus' health.

Women who are more than 14 weeks pregnant will be more closely supervised, it said.

Women are not allowed to have an abortion unless they first get an abortion certificate that has been approved by the local government.

According to statistics, the gender ratio for newborn babies in Jilin Province is 111 boys for every 100 girls. The ratio in some rural areas is more than 120:100. The global ratio is 103-107 boys for every 100 girls.

"The gender imbalance amounts to a hidden danger for society that will affect social stability, and if the ratio keeps on rising, by 2020, there will be some 500,000 more men of marrying age than women," said Shi Baoqin, director of the Jilin provincial population and family planning commission.

In an attempt to halt the growing imbalance, local authorities also ordered all hospitals, healthcare institutions, private clinics and pharmacies to watch out for evidence of fetus gender identification or selective abortions for non-medical reasons. They are offering rewards to informants.

The local government has prosecuted more than 20 cases involving gender identification of fetuses and selective abortions for non-medical reasons over the past two years.

"We expect to bring the gender ratio back to 108:100 by 2010. We still have a long way to go due to the traditional preference for sons, especially in rural areas," said Shi.

"It is hard for some families to get over their desire to have a boy and it can be difficult to prevent them from aborting girls. The need for male labor in rural areas, the lack of insurance and social security and the discrimination against girls in the job market are problems that will not disappear in the short term," she added.

(China Daily 06/19/2007 page5)