Parents could be stopped from knowing sex of baby
Baku, September 13 (AZERTAC). A draft resolution by the Council of Europe has suggested that medical staff across Europe should be instructed to “withhold information about the sex of the foetus" in an attempt to reduce the levels of pre-natal sex selection.
According to figures released by the Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit (PACE), the levels of pre-natal sex selection in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are `worrying`. In Armenia, Albania and Azerbaijan, the rate of males to females are 112 males to 100 females, and the Georgia rate is 111 to 110. The resolution is an attempt to prevent `selective abortion` (usually of females) as a means of `choosing` a child.
Although the levels of concern are in former Soviet states, the recommendation would cover all 47 member states. This would mean that the NHS would be prevented from revealing the sex of a child to expectant parents. The Council has now called for an investigation into the causes of the birth ratios in the aforementioned countries, and says prenatal sex selection should permitted only to avoid serious hereditary disease linked to one gender.
The Council of Europe cannot impose binding orders on governments but is influential in policy-making and decisions made by the Council in the past have gone on to be enacted through conventions and treaties. The draft resolution will now go before the council`s Parliamentary Assembly for approval next month.
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