Dhaka Bureau: The report of the committee formed by the Department of Health has been submitted to the High Court stating that the gender of the unborn child cannot be revealed during pregnancy. According to this policy, no person, hospital, diagnostic center, or laboratory shall disclose the gender of the child by any writing or sign or by any other means. This information was given by the writ petitioner’s lawyer, Ishrat Hasan.
On Monday (January 29), the Department of Health submitted this policy to the High Court bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Kazi Zeenat Haque. The court has fixed Tuesday for the hearing on this policy.
Advocate Ishrat Hasan was in favor of the writ in court. Deputy Attorney General Amit Dasgupta appeared for the state.
On February 3, 2020, the High Court issued a rule to prevent gender identification of unborn children while still in the womb. The High Court sought to know why the failure of the defendants to formulate policies or guidelines to prevent the gender identity of unborn babies should not be declared invalid and without legal authority, and why the defendants should not be directed to formulate policies to determine the gender identity of unborn babies.
The seven respondents, including the Health Secretary, Women and Child Affairs Secretary, Social Welfare Secretary, and Director General of the Health Department, have been asked to respond to the ruling within six weeks.
At that time, the writ petitioner, Ishrat Hasan, said that sex determination of an unborn child is prohibited by law in India. Determining the sex of the baby in the womb creates stress for the expectant mother. In many cases, family pressure also causes abortions.
After that, the health care department of the Ministry of Health prepared this policy by discussing the relevant stakeholders, including ENFPA, government, and private. It is named ‘National Guidelines for Prevention of Son Preference and the Risk of Gender-Biased Sex Selection’.
This policy will be implemented by the Directorate of Health Care, the Directorate of Family Planning, and the Directorate of Nursing and Midwifery. The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs, and the Ministry of Home Affairs have been kept as partners for implementation.
