Crackdown in China Targets Gender-Driven Abortions

A Chinese province has closed 201 clinics that helped detect and abort female fetuses and is offering stipends to elderly couples without sons in an attempt to counter China’s widening gender imbalance, the government said Wednesday.

Investigators in Hebei province uncovered 848 cases over the last two years in which medical staff had violated rules banning gender checks that can lead to abortions, the official New China News Agency said.

Of 745 hospitals and clinics involved, 374 facilities were fined, and 104 medical workers’ licenses were revoked for arranging the illegal practices, the news agency said.

The crackdown underscores concern over the growing gender gap caused by a traditional preference for male offspring and policies limiting most couples to one child. The imbalance has prompted fear of a large surplus of men.

Along with the crackdown, Hebei is also paying couples without sons monthly stipends of about $75.