China aims to improve health of newborn by law
Tomlinson, R.
Bmj 309(6965): 1319
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0959-8138 PMID: 7661929 Document Number: 294197
Effective June 1, 1995, China will have a new law covering aspects of maternal and infant health care. The controversial law provides for improvements in perinatal health care, but it also mandates a premarital physical examination for couples to determine if either person has a genetic or infectious disease or a mental disorder which would have an adverse effect on marriage and childbearing. Marriage must be postponed if any of the defined infectious diseases (including AIDS, gonorrhea, syphilis, and leprosy) or a mental disorder is detected. In cases of genetic diseases, the couple must agree to adopt longterm contraceptive measures or to become sterilized. When a serious genetic defect is uncovered during a pregnancy, physicians are to advise abortion. Whereas the law stipulates that consent must be obtained before an abortion or sterilization is performed, there is concern that the law will lead to forced sterilization. Also, medical experts are still trying to devise a list of "serious genetic disorders" in a social climate which has little tolerance for any type of disability. The new law forbids the use of prenatal testing to determine the sex of a fetus unless there are medical indications for such a determination. In some areas of China, selective abortion of female fetuses has resulted in a birth ratio of 131 boys to 100 girls.