China Doubted Over Announced End of Sex-Selection Abortion
- Religion Today
- Updated Aug 24, 2011
![China Doubted Over Announced End of Sex-Selection Abortion](https://i.swncdn.com/media/700w/crosswalk/resource/areas/crosswalk/resources/images/defaultimages/article-large-landscape.png)
The Chinese government announced plans to restrict sex-selection abortions, but a leading American foe of Beijing's coercive population control policy expressed skepticism, according to Baptist Press. A 10-year plan regarding children in China calls for an effort to "eliminate discrimination against girls" and to ban the use of "ultrasonic techniques to conduct non-medical sex determination." Government-mandated population control, commonly referred to as one-child policy, has been in effect in China for more than 30 years. The policy has produced a gender imbalance. In a culture that favors males, parents often choose abortion when they learn their unborn child is a female. Infanticide, especially of females, also has been reported. Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women's Rights Without Frontiers, wrote August 9 on her blog about the plan: "Don't hold your breath." China made a similar vow in 2004, only to see a gender imbalance of 117 boys born to 100 girls born expand.