Gender Prediction in Pregnancy May Soon be Illegal

A recent move by the PACE Committee for Gender Equality shines a light on a sad reality: several societies favor males so much that they condone selective abortion of female babies. PACE has responded to this horrible reality with a resolution that will make it illegal for doctors to reveal the gender of the unborn baby to the parents at any point during pregnancy.

According to the committee, the question of whether or not the baby will be a boy or girl is more crucial in certain specific countries, but this law would apply to all 47 member countries of the Council of Europe.

This initiative follows a Swiss study that returned startling results on the subject of gender selection. It reveals that in four of the member countries -- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Albania and Georgia -- parents (and doctors) have been voluntarily terminating pregnancies when the unborn child is a girl. Numbers don't lie: in these countries, only 100 girls are born for every 111 boys (except for Georgia, where the ratio is 100 to 112), and nature does not allow for such an obvious imbalance.

For many people, including us at SureBaby.com, gender selection seems like an idea from the dark ages. It's astounding to think that the practice of selective abortion is so widespread today that an international European authority has to step in to put a stop to it. But there is a flip side to gender prediction. In many western countries through Europe and North America, gender prediction is a common part of baby preparation, as parents simply want to know what to expect in order to shop, decorate and plan accordingly. So where does this leave them?

Not surprisingly, this proposed law has divided people. Should everybody suffer for the crimes of a few? But is there really any other way to eliminate gender selection without applying the law to everyone? Do you think this law should pass, or does it interfere with parental rights too much? Let us know what you think!