Government says clampdown is aimed at improving women’s reproductive health, but it comes amid anxiety about the nation’s falling birth rate

China has already enacted strict measures aimed at preventing sex-selective abortions, and health authorities also warned in 2018 that the use of abortion to end unwanted pregnancies was harmful to women’s bodies and risked causing infertility.

The state council said the new guidelines, issued on Monday, would aim to improve women’s overall access to pre-pregnancy healthcare services.

  • NewAccountWhoDis [she/her]
    ·
    3 years ago

    I disagree, even the most feminist country wouldn't find abortions in the name of eugenics as an acceptable thing, and sex selective abortions are basically that but in misogyny terms instead of race and genetics.

    There are plenty of reasons why people get abortions that are completely valid, but that doesn't make every single possible case good.

    • Zuzak [fae/faer, she/her]
      ·
      3 years ago

      How exactly can you tell if someone who wants an abortion is getting it for sex-selective reasons?

      • NewAccountWhoDis [she/her]
        ·
        3 years ago

        This is the same question we ask of many laws dealing with motives and intent. Yes some will slip by and I think that's perfectly fine we should lean on the side of allowing abortions over not, but there's also going to be plenty of cases where people make it clear exactly what they're doing it for.

        You can also mitigate this through regulations that say block telling the patient about the gender or genetic makeup of a child and so after a certain period for instance.

        • Zuzak [fae/faer, she/her]
          ·
          3 years ago

          The reason sex-selective abortions are an issue in the first place is because of the government interfering with reproductive freedom. I don't think the government needs to take an active role in making sure women are only having abortions for the "right" reasons.

          • NewAccountWhoDis [she/her]
            ·
            3 years ago

            The reason sex-selective abortions are an issue in the first place is because of the government interfering with reproductive freedom

            That's not why at all, it's because China, like every country in the entire world, still struggles with huge misogyny issues both traditionally and in modern culture. Having a girl is just culturally less worth it, especially for families who stand even more by their traditional values.

            The one child policy worsened this issue, but without the misogyny behind it, the abortions wouldn't have been targeted towards female children.

      • NewAccountWhoDis [she/her]
        ·
        3 years ago

        you can’t screen every women to know if they’re doing it to for the wrong reasons. so you just outlaw abortions? it’s a personal choice only the mother can make and any restriction of that is nothing but violating human rights

        No of course not, I think we should lean on the side of allowing them but there are things you can put into place to mitigate it. Regulations against revealing a child's gender or genetic makeup to the parents before X date would be one useful step for example. Also motives and intent are often considered in the law, it's not always some unknowable thing.

          • NewAccountWhoDis [she/her]
            ·
            3 years ago

            Meaning that in cases where intent for eugenics isn't clear, they should be allowed. But like let's say a person had posted before on social media "I won't ever want an autistic child" and then suddenly decides to not have a child right after it's revealed there's a high chance of their child being autistic. The intent there is pretty clear. To allow that would be to allow eugenics.

            Of course the proper option is what I said already and it shouldn't even be revealed until after they've made their choice

              • NewAccountWhoDis [she/her]
                ·
                3 years ago

                Oh yeah I agree but I would assume in Feminist Land that there's better supports for parents that help to prevent abuse and more monitoring/resources for helping children in need too.

                Obviously a situation like this is one that needs a lot done on multiple different factors.