Abortion debate Part of the abortion series
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Sex-selective abortion is the targeted abortion of a fetus based upon its sex. The abortion debate refers to discussion and controversy surrounding the moral and legal status of Abortion. An Overview See also Ethical aspects of abortion Pro-choice advocates emphasize their beliefs that having a child is a personal choice that affects a woman's body and Overview See also Ethical aspects of abortion Pro-life individuals generally believe that human life should be valued either from conception or Implantation The abortion-breast cancer (ABC hypothesis (supporters call it the abortion-breast cancer link posits that induced Abortion increases the risk of developing Breast cancer Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs also known as pregnancy resource centers are Non-profit organizations established by Pro-life supporters that work to persuade The legalized abortion and crime effect is the controversial Theory that legal Abortion reduces Crime. The ethical aspects of Abortion are much discussed in all major philosophies and Religions in the world particularly (but not exclusively in the Christian Fetal pain, its existence and its implications are part of a larger debate about Abortion. The term fetal rights can refer either to legal rights accorded to Fetuses or to ethical rights of fetuses The genetics and abortion issue is an extension of the Abortion debate and the Disability rights movement Late-term abortions are Abortions which are performed during a later stage of Pregnancy. Libertarians promote individual liberty and seek to minimize the role of the state The relationship between induced Abortion and Mental health is an area of controversy Many jurisdictions have laws applying to minors and abortion. The paternal rights and abortion issue is an extension of both the Abortion debate and the Fathers' rights movement The philosophical aspects of the abortion debate are presented in the form of a number of Logical arguments which can be made in support of or opposition to Abortion Societal attitudes towards abortion have varied throughout different historal periods and Cultures One manner of assessing such attitudes in the modern era has been Many religious traditions have taken a stance on Abortion, and these stances span a broad spectrum from acceptance to rejection A self-induced abortion is an Abortion performed outside the recognized medical system According to the World Health Organization (WHO an unsafe abortion is the termination of an unintended pregnancy either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an Abortion-related violence, or anti-abortion violence, is criminal violence committed against individuals and organizations that provide Abortion. An A fetus (or foetus or fœtus) is a developing Mammal or other Viviparous Vertebrate, after the Embryonic stage and An organism's sex is defined by the gametes it produces males produce male gametes (spermatozoa or Sperm) while females produce female gametes (ova or Egg cells; individual This is done after a determination is made (usually by ultrasound but also rarely by amniocentesis or another procedure) that the fetus is of an undesired sex. Not to be confused with Supersonic. Ultrasound is cyclic Sound pressure with a Frequency greater than the upper Amniocentesis (also referred to as amniotic fluid test or AFT) is a medical procedure used in Prenatal diagnosis of genetic abnormalities and fetal Sex selective infanticide is the practice of selective infanticide against infants of an undesired sex. Infanticide is the practice of someone intentionally causing the death of an Infant. One common method is child abandonment. Child abandonment is the practice of abandoning offspring outside of legal Adoption.

These practices are especially common in some places where cultural norms value male children over female children. ^[1] Societies that practice sex selection in favor of males (sometimes called son preference or female deselection) are quite common, especially in China, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, New Guinea, and many other developing countries in Asia and North Africa ^[1][2]; sex selection in favor of females appears to be rare or non-existent, although some legends of Amazons say that they practiced male infanticide. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. Singapore For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan The Amazons (in Greek, grc Ἀμαζόνες are a nation of all-female warriors in Classical and Greek mythology, who were possibly historical In 2005, 90 million women were estimated to be missing in seven Asian countries alone due, apparently, to prenatal sex selective abortion. ^{[3] [2]} However, other reasons for the sex ratio imbalance in certain countries have been proposed (see below). The existence of the practice appears to be determined by culture, rather than by economic conditions, because such deviations in sex ratios do not exist in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. ^[2] Sex-selective abortion was rare before the late 20th century because of the difficulty of determining the sex of the fetus before birth, but ultrasound has made such selection easier. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on However, prior to this, parents would alter family sex compositions through infanticide. It is believed to be responsible for at least part of the skewed birth statistics^[2] in favor of males in mainland China, India, Taiwan, and South Korea. Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term synonymous with the area that is under the jurisdiction India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː

Contents 1 Prevalence 1.1 China 1.2 India 1.3 Inuit 2 Other causes of sex ratio imbalances 3 Societal effects of sex-selective abortion 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Prevalence

China

Sex-selective abortion appears to have been practiced at various times in Chinese history such as the Qing dynasty due to population pressures. Not to be confused with Qin Dynasty, the first dynasty of Imperial China ^[4] Sex-selective infanticide appears to occur infrequently in China today. Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES However, there is a strong imbalance in sex ratios in China, as well as South Korea and India, which has commonly been attributed to sex-selective abortion. Sex ratio is the Ratio of Males to Females in a Population. The primary sex ratio is the ratio at the time of conception secondary sex ratio is South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country In addition, there appears to be some sex-selective abandonment of infants to circumvent China's one child policy. The one-child policy is the Population control policy (or planned birth policy of the People's Republic of China (PRC

Female deselection is common in China: Chinese tradition says that most parents want their first child to be born a male. Female deselection is also due to deeply rooted Confucian traditions, and Chinese parents desire sons in order to make familial propagation, security for the elderly, labor provision, and performance of ancestral rites. Confucianism ( is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the fifth century B China calls the female deselection situation the "missing girl" problem.

Parents may wish for a male child because in many cultures only a male will carry on the family name (traditionally when a bride gets married she effectively becomes a member of the groom's family)^[5], because they believe that a male is needed for work, or because they wish a male to earn an income needed to support the parents in their old age. ^[6] In response to sex-selective abortions, Mainland China has made it illegal for a physician to reveal the sex of a fetus.

Research indicates that women infected with the hepatitis B virus are 1. 5 times more likely to give birth to a male. The researcher, Emily Oster, says that the higher rates of hepatitis B in China could account for 75% of the "missing girls. Emily Fair Oster is an American economist After receiving an B "^[7] However, new demographic research casts doubt on the hepatitis B theory. Das Gupta found that data from a huge sample of births in China show that the only women with elevated probabilities of bearing a son are those who have already borne daughters. ^[8]

India

The practice of female deselection in India could be attributed to socioeconomic reasons. There is a belief by certain people in India that female children are inherently less worthy because they leave home and family when they marry, a system known to anthropologists as patrilocality. In Social anthropology, patrilocal residence or patrilocality (also virilocal residence or virilocality) is a term referring to the social The high number of "dowry deaths" (about 7,618 were reported in India in 2006), in which brides are murdered by their grooms' family members or commit suicide after suffering abuse and neglect, is also a major factor in gender preference. Dowry deaths are the deaths of young women who are Murdered or driven to Suicide by continuous harassment and torture by husbands and in-laws in an effort to extort ^[9]

Studies in India have indicated three factors of female deselection in India, which are economic utility, sociocultural utility, and religious functions. The factor as to economic utility is that studies indicate that sons are more likely than daughters to provide family farm labor or provide in or for a family business, earn wages, and give old-age support for parents. Upon marriage, a son makes a daughter-in-law an addition and asset to the family providing additional assistance in household work and brings an economic reward through dowry payments, while daughters get married off and merit an economic penalty through dowry charges. The sociocultural utility factor of female deselection is that, as in China, in India's patrilineal and patriarchal system of families is that having at least one son is mandatory in order to continue the familial line, and many sons constitute additional status to families. The final factor of female deselection is the religious functions that only sons are allowed to provide, based on Hindu tradition, which mandate that sons are mandatory in order to kindle the funeral pyre of their late parents and to assist in the soul salvation. A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical A pyre (from the Greek: πυρά pyrá, from πυρ pýr, fire is a structure usually made of Wood, for burning a body as part of a The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living ^[10]

The origin of female infanticide, however, as Madame Blavatsky reports in 1879, was as a direct result of child marriage:

“

Obligatory marriage for little girls is a comparatively recent invention, and it alone is responsible for the parents’ decision rather to see them dead than unmarried. Elena Petrovna Gan (Елена Петровна Ган also Hélène, Yekaterinoslav, Ukraine, Russian Empire — May 8 1891 London) better Child marriage usually refers to two separate social phenomena which are practiced in some societies The ancient Aryans knew nothing of it. Aryan is an English word derived from the Sanskrit " Ārya " meaning "noble" or "honorable" Even the ancient Brahmanical literature shows that, amongst the pure Aryans, woman enjoyed the same privileges as man… But with the invasion of the Persians, in the seventh century… and later on of the Mussulmans…[W]oman became enslaved. layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox

”

She also speculates that this practice may have been spread by the Jadej tribe of the frontier province of Sindh, which bore the brunt of Muslim invasions, and where it was crucial to protect the local women, as in any invasion. Sindh ( Sindhī: سنڌ Urdu: سندھ is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhis. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion ^[11]

In some countries, it is currently illegal to determine the sex of a child during pregnancy using ultra-sound scans. Laboratories are prohibited to reveal the fetus's sex during such scans. While most established labs comply with the law, determined persons can find a cheaper lab that would tell them. Like the Chinese, the Indians also use the postnatal alternative, which is sex-selective infanticide. ^[12] Some turn to people called dais, traditional midwives, historically female, who offer female deselection, letting the baby boys live but killing the newborn girls by giving them a sharp jerk, that is, turning them upside-down and snapping their spinal cords, and then declaring them stillborn. ^[13]

The British medical journal The Lancet reported in early 2006 that there may have been close to 10 million female fetuses aborted in India over the past 20 years. This article is about the journal For other uses of the term "lancet" see Lancet (disambiguation. This is extrapolated partly on the basis of reduction of female-to-male sex ratio from 945 per 1000 in 1991 to 927 per 1000 in 2001. The female-to-male sex ratio is even lower in cases where a couple has had a previous daughter, but no sons, dropping to 759 to 1000 for the second child if the first was a daughter, and 719 to 1000 for a third child if the first two were both daughters. However, the Indian Medical Association disputed the findings,saying gender selection had dropped since a court ruling outlawed the practice in 2001. ^[14] However, some say that the laws have not been effectively upheld, and successful prosecutions remain non-existent. ^[15] The study also reported that sex selective abortion is more common among the wealthy and among educated women than among the poor and the uneducated. Part of this may be due to their being able to afford the associated expense. In addition, it is what would be expected by evolutionary theory, as a poor male is much less likely to reproduce than a poor female, while the reverse is true for wealthier people, as they have a high probability of attracting multiple females. ^[16] This can still pose a problem for those wealthier Indians who insist upon having a mate from within their own caste and must sometimes travel hundreds of miles to find a suitable partner. Castes are Hereditary systems of occupation, Endogamy, social culture, Social class, and Political power.

Inuit

Historical Inuit demographic studies often show a large child sex imbalance, with sometimes nearly two males per female. Inuit (plural the singular Inuk, means "man" or "person" is a general term for a group of culturally similar Indigenous peoples inhabiting Most anthropologists attribute this at least in part to widespread female deselection in the form of infanticide. There have been theories that this is to limit population growth, balance adult population ratios (due to the high mortality rates among adult males), a psychological preference for males, or because sons made a greater contribution to their parents' lives by sharing their hunting produce. ^[17] This imbalance may also be related to the Hepatitis B theory, see below, as an immunization campaign in Alaska brought a marked change in the birth ratio.

Other causes of sex ratio imbalances

Sex-selective abortion, infanticide, and abandonment may not be the only causes of sex ratio imbalances in the countries mentioned above. Work by Emily Oster notes that women infected with hepatitis B virus are more likely to bear males than uninfected women. Emily Fair Oster is an American economist After receiving an B A virus (from the Latin virus meaning Toxin or Poison) is a sub-microscopic infectious agent that is unable Her 2005 publication in The Journal of Political Economy suggests that in the past, the prevalence of hepatitis infection may have accounted for 75% of the sex ratio imbalance in China, 20% to 50% of the imbalance in the Middle East and Egypt, but less than 20% of the imbalance in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. This is an active area of research and these findings are controversial. Today's concentrations of sex ratios imbalances are regional -in North-West India or East China- and demographic -among women whose first child was a girl and do not correspond at all to known epidemiological features.

Societal effects of sex-selective abortion

Sex-selective abortion has had larger societal effects, particularly in relation to demographics. Demographics or demographic data refers to selected population characteristics as used in government Marketing or opinion research or the Demographic profiles Culture is a strong motivation for sex-selective abortion, as is evident by the practice of sex-selective abortion among cultures where male children are preferred over female children.

It is estimated that by 2020 there could be more than 35 million young "surplus males" in China and 25 million in India. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country ^[18]

Sex-selective abortion has become an issue in Southern and Eastern Asian countries, where sex-selective abortions have caused an increase in the imbalances between sex ratios of various Asian countries. Studies have estimated that sex-selective abortions have increased the ratio of males to females from the natural average of 105-106 males per 100 females to 113 males per 100 females in both South Korea and China, 110 males per 100 females in Taiwan, and 107 males per 100 females among Chinese populations living in Singapore and parts of Malaysia. ^[19] However, a similar trend does not exist in North Korea, possibly due to limited access to prenatal sex-testing technologies. ^[20]

During the 1994 United Nations International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, Egypt, policy objectives intended to eliminate sex-selective abortion and infanticide, along with discrimination against female children, were stated in Article 4. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security The United Nations coordinated an International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, Egypt from 5 - 13 September Cairo () which means "the Vanquisher" or "the Triumphant" is the capital and largest city of Egypt. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. 15 of the Programme of Action: ". . . to eliminate all forms of discrimination against the girl child and the root causes of son preference, which results in harmful and unethical practices regarding female infanticide and prenatal sex selection". ^[19]

Sex-selective abortion has been seen as worsening the sex ratio in India, and thus affecting gender issues related to sex compositions of Indian households. ^[21] According to the 2001 census, the sex-ratio in India is 107. 8 males per 100 females, up from 105. 8 males per 100 females in 1991. The ratio is significantly higher in certain states such as Punjab (126. India is a union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. Punjab (ਪੰਜਾਬ पंजाब pəɲdʒaːb is a state in northwest India. 1) and Haryana (122. Haryana (हरियाणा Punjabi: ਹਰਿਆਣਾ hərɪjaːɳaː is a state in northern India. 0). ^[22]

It has been argued that by having a one-child policy, China has increased the rate of abortion of female fetuses, thereby accelerating a demographic decline. The one-child policy is the Population control policy (or planned birth policy of the People's Republic of China (PRC ^[23] As Chinese families are allowed only one child, and would often prefer at least one son, there are fewer daughters, thus preventing the formation of a greater number of families in the next generation. ^[24]

Since 2005, test kits such as the Baby Gender Mentor have become available over the internet. Baby Gender Mentor is the Trade name of a controversial Blood test designed to determine whether a pregnant woman is carrying a Male or ^[25] These tests have been criticized for making it easier to perform a sex-selective abortion earlier in a pregnancy. ^[26] Concerns have also been raised about their accuracy. ^[27][28]

See also

Abortion Abortion debate Child abandonment Family Fetal rights Feticide Gendercide

Gender role Genetics and abortion Psychohistorical views on infanticide Selective reduction Sex selection Sexism

References

External links

• A conference held in Singapore in December 2005 on female deficit in Asia
• Sex Selection at Birth; Statistics Singapore Newsletter, Vol 17 No.3 January 1995
• The Invisible Girl
• MSNBC - No Girls Please - In parts of Asia, sexism is ingrained and gender selection often means murder
• Akhilesh Mithal - Itihaas - Is Female Feticide Civilized?
• It's a Girl! - Waiting to Die: The Babies Sacrificed for China's One Child Policy
• Surplus Males and US/China Relations
• A Dangerous Surplus of Sons? - An analysis of various studies of the lopsided sex ratios in Asian countries
• Case study: Female Infanticide in India and China
• Working paper by Emily Oster linking sex ratio imbalances to hepatitis B infection
• S2 China Report - China: The Effects of the One Child Policy
• Notification on Addressing in a Comprehensive Way the Issue of Rising Sex Ratio at Birth a UNESCAP document
• A collection of essays on sex selection in various Asian countries
• Case studies and a video on sex selection in Asia

The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ( UNESCAP or ESCAP) located in Bangkok, Thailand, is the regional arm of the

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