Jilin gets tough on abortionists

CHANGCHUN: Doctors in Northeast China's Jilin Province who illegally perform gender testing on fetuses or sex-selective abortions will face dismissal under new measures aimed at controlling the province's rapidly growing gender imbalance.

The authorities also ordered private clinics and pharmacies to stop selling abortion drugs, and prohibited makers of abortion drugs from selling them on a wholesale basis. Infractions will be severely punished.

"Doctors who illegally test the gender of a fetus or perform sex-selective abortions will immediately lose their jobs. Their supervisors will also be dismissed for dereliction of duty if the circumstances prove serious enough to constitute a crime," said a statement jointly issued by Jilin provincial population and family planning commission and provincial supervision department.