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Sex-selective abortion is the practice of terminating a pregnancy based upon the predicted sex of the infant. The selective abortion of female fetuses is most common where male children are valued over female children, especially in parts of East Asia and South Asia, as well as in the Caucasus, Western Balkans, and to a lesser extent North America. Based on the third National Family and Health Survey, results showed that if both partners, mother and father, or just the father, preferred male children, sex-selective abortion was more common. In cases where only the mother prefers sons, this is likely to result in sex-selective neglect in which the child is not likely to survive past infancy.
The status of women in India has been subject to many changes over the span of recorded Indian history. Their position in society deteriorated early in India's ancient period, especially in the Indo-Aryan speaking regions, and their subordination continued to be reified well into India's early modern period.
The paternal rights and abortion issue is an extension of both the abortion debate and the fathers' rights movement. Abortion can be a factor for disagreement and lawsuit between partners.
Many jurisdictions have laws applying to minors and abortion. These parental involvement laws require that one or more parents consent or be informed before their minor daughter may legally have an abortion.
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The genetics and abortion issue is an extension of the abortion debate and the disability rights movement. Since the advent of forms of prenatal diagnosis, such as amniocentesis and ultrasound, it has become possible to detect the presence of congenital disorders in the fetus before birth. Specifically, disability-selective abortion is the abortion of fetuses that are found to have non-fatal mental or physical defects detected through prenatal testing. Many prenatal tests are now considered routine, such as testing for Down syndrome. Women who are discovered to be carrying fetuses with disabilities are often faced with the decision of whether to abort or to prepare to parent a child with disabilities.
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The term "missing women" indicates a shortfall in the number of women relative to the expected number of women in a region or country. It is most often measured through male-to-female sex ratios, and is theorized to be caused by sex-selective abortions, female infanticide, and inadequate healthcare and nutrition for female children. It is argued that technologies that enable prenatal sex selection, which have been commercially available since the 1970s, are a large impetus for missing female children.
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Female foeticide in India is the abortion of a female foetus outside of legal methods. A research by Pew Research Center based on Union government data indicates foeticide of at least 9 million females in the years 2000-2019. The research found that 86.7% of these foeticides were by Hindus, followed by Sikhs(1.7% of the population) with 4.9%, and Muslims(14% of the population) with 6.6%. The research also indicated an overall decline in preference for sons in the time period.
On June 2, 2012, Feng Jianmei was forced to have an abortion in Zhenping County, Shaanxi, China, when she was seven months pregnant with her second child. Local officials had demanded that Feng and her husband pay a 40,000 yuan fine for violating the nation's one-child policy. When they were unable to do so, authorities arrested Feng, made her sign an agreement to have an abortion, and held her down while injecting her with an abortifacient. Feng was reportedly traumatized by the incident and in poor health afterwards.
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Guardianship in Francoist Spain (1939-1975) and the democratic transition (1975-1985) was a system which provided husbands and fathers with tremendous legal control over women. Male members of the family were able to transfer legal control of their daughters over to the state. One of the developments after the Civil War was the restoration of the Civil Code of 1889 by the Franco regime. This made women into virtual slaves to their husbands and fathers with men controlling not only the custody of their children, but their bank accounts, contracts, nationality and residency. Women did not reach the age of majority until 21, 25 if they were unmarried or not in a convent. Husbands and fathers could kill their wives and daughters for committing adultery or having sex outside marriage. Minor reforms were made in the 1950s and 1960s, largely as a result of economic pressures.
Sex-selective abortion is the act of aborting a child due to its predicted sex. This practice gained popularity in the mid-1980s to early 1990s in South Korea, where selective female abortions were commonplace as male children were preferred. As a result, South Koreans aborted a much higher number of female fetuses than male ones in the 1980s and early 1990s. Historically, much of Korea's values and traditions were based on Confucianism, which dictates a patriarchal system, thus motivating the preference for sons over daughters. Additionally, even though the abortion ban existed, the combination of son preference and availability of sex-selective technology led to an increasing number of sex-selective abortions and boys born. As a result, South Korea experienced drastically high sex ratios around mid-1980s to early 1990s. However, in recent years, with the changes in family policies and modernization, attitudes towards son preference have changed, normalizing the sex ratio and lowering the number of sex-selective abortions. Additionally, during the entire 20th century South Korean women benefitted greatly from gender inequality declining at one of the fastest rates worldwide. However, there has been no explicit data collected on the number of induced sex selective abortions performed due to the abortion ban and controversy surrounding the topic. Therefore, scholars have been continuously analyzing and generating connections among sex-selection, abortion policies, gender discrimination, and other cultural factors.
Abortion in Indiana is illegal except in cases of rape or incest before 10 weeks post-fertilization, for fatal fetal abnormalities, or to preserve the life and physical health of the mother. In the wake of the 2022 Dobbs Supreme Court ruling, Indiana outlawed most abortions, with certain exceptions. However, on 22 September 2022, this law was blocked by Special Judge Kelsey B. Hanlon, thus effectively returning the status of legal abortions in Indiana to prior conditions. On January 12, 2023, the Indiana Supreme Court will begin hearings on whether the state's ban on abortion violates its state constitution.
References
- ↑ Khare, Vineet (8 October 2015). "India activist to fight sex determination ruling". bbc.com. BBC Online. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
- ↑ Saini, Angela (2017). "2. Females get sicker but males die quicker". Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story. Beacon Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-8070-7170-0.
- ↑ Nanda, Bijayalaxmi (2022). "7. Selective abortion and reproductive rights: a syncretic feminist approach". In Kannabiran, Kalpana (ed.). Routledge Readings on Law, Development and Legal Pluralism: Ecology, Families, Governance. Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis. pp. 173–174. ISBN 978-1-03-226928-3.
- ↑ Chamberlain, Gethin (23 November 2008). "Where a baby girl is a mother's awful shame". theguardian.com. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
- ↑ Morrison, Sarah; Buncombe, Andrew (11 August 2013). "'My husband tried to force me to abort my twin girls': Doctor's charge inflames India's fight for gender equality" . independent.co.uk. The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
- ↑ Izri, Touria (14 November 2012). ""It's a Girl" documentary explores gendercide in China and India | The Star". The Toronto Star. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
- ↑ Kalantry, Sital (2017). "3. The policy of sex-selective abortion laws in the United States". Women's Human Rights and Migration: Sex-Selective Abortion Laws in the United States and India. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 81–82. ISBN 978-0-8122-9420-0.
- ↑ @induCityMakers (19 March 2020). "@mitukhurana is no more. She left for heavenly abode today. The Family Court Judge Ms. Barkha Gupta (Rohini Courts) was indeed very cruel. Even when Mitu couldn't walk to the court, Mitu was asked by her to be in the court. Justice was denied to her" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
