爲防止重男輕女 英國工黨呼籲取消胎兒性別檢查大綱
Prospective parents should be banned from using a blood test to determine the sex of their baby in the early stages of pregnancy, Labour has said.
英國工黨日前表示，應該禁止準父母在懷孕初期使用驗血的方式來確定其嬰兒的性別。Concerns have been raised that some people could choose to terminate the pregnancy because of a foetus's sex.
因爲有人擔心有些準父母會因爲胎兒的性別而選擇終止妊娠。The non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) is used to detect Down's syndrome and other genetic conditions and is being rolled out by the NHS as an additional part of its antenatal screening offer.
非侵入性產前檢測（NIPT）用於檢測唐氏綜合徵和其他遺傳病症，並由英國國家醫療服務體系推出，作爲其產前篩查的增項部分。
Those who take the test on the health service cannot use it to learn their baby's sex, but they can pay for this privately, including via online services.
那些參加健康服務測試的人不能用它來測試胎兒的性別，但他們可以通過私下支付來獲得此服務，這其中還包括在線服務。
Naz Shah, the shadow women and equalities minister, said a preference for boys in some cultures could force expecting parents "to adopt methods such as NIPT to live up to expectations of family members".
“影子女性和平等”大臣納茲·沙赫表示，在某些文化中，偏愛男孩的傳統可能會造成父母“採用NIPT等方法來迎合家庭成員的期望”。"NIPT screenings should be used for their intended purpose, to screen for serious conditions such as Down's syndrome," she told the BBC.
她向BBC透露：“NIPT篩查應該用於其最初目的，即篩查如唐氏綜合症這樣的嚴重疾病。”On the NHS, prospective parents are offered a combined blood and ultrasound test in the first three months of pregnancy to check for abnormalities. Most can find out the sex of the foetus at an 18 to 20-week scan. Using NIPT, this can be determined from nine to 10 weeks of pregnancy.
根據英國國家醫療服務體系，準父母在懷孕的前三個月接受血液和超聲檢查，以發現任何異常。大多數人可以在18到20周的掃描中知道胎兒的性別。而使用NIPT，胎兒性別可以在懷孕9到10周後確定。
