Armenian doctors to be penalized for sex-selective abortions

PanARMENIAN.Net - A bill on reproductive health and reproductive rights passed Wednesday, June 29 by the Armenian parliament provides for penalties for doctors who will perform abortions in the peroid between the 12th and 22nd weeks of pregnancy, a time of gestation when a child’s gender is revealed.

Under the bill women who want an abortion before the 12th week of pregnancy will have to apply in writing to a hospital and wait three days. During that period, specialists will work with the woman to explain the consequences of her choice. Doctors who violate the law will face fines from 40,000 drams ($85) to 100,000 drams ($210).

The measure is prompted by statistics showing an increasing number of abortions of female fetuses.

Health minister Armen Muradyan said under the law termination of pregnancy after the 12th week is allowed only by an expert’s assessment or for social reasons such as the baby’s father's death, imprisonment of the pregnant woman, rape, threat to life of the fetus or the mother, serious diseases or fetal abnormality.

The country’s 2012 birth ratio of 114 boys for every 100 girls lags behind only neighboring Azerbaijan at 116, and China at 118 worldwide, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The UNFPA sets the norm at 102-106 males for every 100 females.

According to the UNFPA, in 2006-2011 more than 7,200 women in Armenia had selective abortions.

The data published by the National Statistical Service suggest that 19,400 babies were born in Armenia in the first six months of 2016, up by 3.2% against the same period last year.