Doctors are under instruction not to perform an abortion purely on the grounds of the sex of the foetus.
The Family Planning Association has been told that parents from some ethnic minorities have sought sex-determination tests, intending to abort females.
Because of this, the Medical Association has recently adopted a policy on foetal sex tests.
It states that there is no ethical objection to sex tests done for a medical reason - usually the possibility of a serious, sex-linked, inherited condition.
But it is unethical to terminate a pregnancy on the grounds of foetal sex, except in cases of sex-linked disease.
The Medical Association chairman, Dr John Adams, said last night that there were many inherited diseases and genetic syndromes that affected one sex or the other.
The test to check a foetus for chromosomal abnormalities and identify its sex - called chorionic villus sampling - is done at 11 weeks, at which stage termination by suction is still possible.
The test is normally performed when the pregnant woman is older or has hereditary problems.
Dr Adams said seeking sex tests with the aim of aborting a foetus of a given sex, usually a girl, was not thought to be widespread in New Zealand.
"Determining the sex of a foetus is common in several overseas countries, particularly India, China and Russia, where girl babies are less valued than boys."
It was unethical for a doctor to be involved in the testing if it was done with a view to terminating the pregnancy if the foetus was of an undesired sex, he said.
In India there has been a steady decline in the ratio of females to males over the past century because of similar practices, the Medical Association says. The 1991 census found 927 females for every 1000 males, and in some states the ratio was as low as 600 to 1000.
The Indian Medical Association has banned involvement in sex-determination tests, which have been illegal there since 1994, but they are still widespread.
Doctors moving to stamp out gender terminations
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