Health Ministry blasted over decision to allow fetus sex selection [Israel]

The Health Ministry has been sharply criticized for its decision to allow parents to choose their baby's sex in cases defined as "exceptional."

Commissioner for Future Generations Shlomo Shoham, a retired judge, said yesterday that "providing the option of choosing the sex of a fetus is sliding down a slippery slope," and "another step on the road to severe moral deterioration."

Shoham intends to use his authority to recommend that the Knesset pass a law banning the possibility of choosing the sex of a fetus, except when there is an established mortal danger.

MK Roman Bronfman (Yahad) asked the chairman of the Knesset Welfare and Health Committee to convene a meeting as soon as possible to address the issue. "This is an extremely serious ethical issue and the committee must discuss the limits of human intervention in the rules of nature," Bronfman said.

The Health Ministry decision created for the first time an official opening for using technology to select a baby's sex for nonmedical reasons. Such use of technology, Shoham said, "is banned in many countries in the world...