Sweden Says Gender Based Abortions are Legal
Reported May 26, 2009
(ChattahBox) Swedish health authorities have ruled that under the current law, a woman is allowed to have an abortion, solely for the purpose of ending a pregnancy when the gender of the fetus is not what a woman wants. Health officials also decided that requests by pregnant women for gender testing, without a specific medical reason are allowed under the countrys laws.
This decision by Swedens National Board of Health and Welfare was in response to a Swedish woman who underwent repeat abortions of a healthy fetus because it wasnt a boy. The woman already had two girls and wanted a boy.
Her doctors became uneasy when she underwent a routine amniocentesis to test for abnormalities and the woman demanded to know the sex of her fetus. The doctors felt uncomfortable informing the woman of the gender, because they knew she had a history of aborting fetuses based on gender.
The doctors were in an ethical quandary. If the fetus was a girl and they informed the woman, she may very well have terminated her pregnancy for a third time, based on gender.
The doctors requested guidance from the National Board of Health and they ruled that requests for gender identification and/or abortions for gender reasons couldnt be denied under Swedens law.
Sweden allows a woman to terminate her pregnancy up until the 18th week.
