Taiwan to punish hospitals for sex-based abortions
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Taiwan's health ministry says hospitals will be penalized for conducting gender selective abortions blamed for up to 3,000 aborted female fetuses last year.
Deputy Health Minister Chiang Hung-che said Monday his department is investigating hospitals allegedly involved. Violators could have their licenses revoked.
Another official, Chiou-Shu-ti, blamed gender-based abortions for Taiwan's high proportion of male births. That stands at 1.09 male births for every female born, as compared to the worldwide ratio of 1.06.
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China and India have wider discrepancies even though both ban doctors from revealing gender of a fetus.
Many Taiwanese still prefer boys over girls because boys carry the family name and are believed better positioned to support families financially.