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'It strikes me as a bit of a shakedown.' - Adrian Dix, B.C. NDP health critic.
Victoria (13 May 2010) - British Columbia's Liberal government has decided to charge a fee of $50 to reveal the gender of a child determined during ultrasound testing - except when advising the mother is medically necessary.
The opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) calls the fee a shakedown and another step along the road to user fee health care.
Although the current policy is not to tell patients the sex of unborn babies except when necessary, NDP health critic Adrian Dix says ultrasound technicians have routinely shown or told mothers the sex of the fetus when asked.
"It strikes me as a bit of a shakedown," he said of the new policy. "That probably shouldn't happen."
Ida Chong, the minister of healthy living, says the policy is already in place at the Lions Gate and Richmond hospitals and will eventually be implemented across B.C.
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