Hide fetus sex to stop sex-selective abortion: CMAJ

Calling Canada a “haven” for sex-selective abortions, a noted medical journal is calling for regulations to stop doctors from disclosing the sex of a fetus until after an abortion is possible — a proposal pro-choice groups and gynaecologists say flies in the face of women’s rights in this country.

Female feticide — terminating a pregnancy because it’s a girl — has become a common practice in many Asian countries and it’s finding root in Canada with new immigrants, says an editorial published Monday by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).

While the CMAJ said the practice is not widespread here, the Journal’s editors want doctors prohibited from revealing the gender of a fetus before 30 weeks into the pregnancy, when an “unquestioned abortion” is all but impossible.

Proponents for and against restricting female feticide say women’s rights are at the heart of their beliefs.

Read more here and check out the CMAJ editorial here. (Warning: PDF)