Sex-Selective Abortions
In India there are 7.1 million fewer girls than boys under the age of six. This is just one example of how negatively females are being affected in India by sex-selective abortions. Males are considered more valuable because they are the ones carrying on the name. Females are burdens because they do not get as good an education and do not have very many job options. Therefore, it is the family’s responsibility to care for her and they must also pay the dowry when she is married. If a family has more sons that means they are receiving more money when their children get married. Abortions have become a common practice in India for this purpose.
Despite being a poor country with very little technology, India has an abundance of ultrasound machines. This allows families to find out the gender of the child
before it is born. Although in America this is used to help plan things like clothing and names, in India this is an aid to decide whether the child will be allowed to live. If a family already has a female, they are more likely to have an abortion in the hopes of trying again for a male. This is a huge problem for middle class or poor families who can’t afford the abortions. They are stuck with children they do not want, and the girls do not get good lives or proper educations, while the families are left even poorer than before.
Families who can afford the abortions are the wealthier ones and in most circumstances, it is not that mother’s decision to get the abortion. In fact, it is typically the husband’s family who forces her to get the abortion if it is a female because they do not want the burden of another female and would prefer a male to carry on their name. Women have no choice but to give up their child because they will be threatened by their husband and their husband’s family. Sex-selective abortions are illegal but people are finding their way around this by not coming right out and saying whether it is a boy or girl. Instead, they use little hints like winks or tapping their noses. This is a horrible crime and if things continue like this, the female to male ratio in India will continue to decrease, endangering the female population in India altogether.
Despite being a poor country with very little technology, India has an abundance of ultrasound machines. This allows families to find out the gender of the child
before it is born. Although in America this is used to help plan things like clothing and names, in India this is an aid to decide whether the child will be allowed to live. If a family already has a female, they are more likely to have an abortion in the hopes of trying again for a male. This is a huge problem for middle class or poor families who can’t afford the abortions. They are stuck with children they do not want, and the girls do not get good lives or proper educations, while the families are left even poorer than before.
Families who can afford the abortions are the wealthier ones and in most circumstances, it is not that mother’s decision to get the abortion. In fact, it is typically the husband’s family who forces her to get the abortion if it is a female because they do not want the burden of another female and would prefer a male to carry on their name. Women have no choice but to give up their child because they will be threatened by their husband and their husband’s family. Sex-selective abortions are illegal but people are finding their way around this by not coming right out and saying whether it is a boy or girl. Instead, they use little hints like winks or tapping their noses. This is a horrible crime and if things continue like this, the female to male ratio in India will continue to decrease, endangering the female population in India altogether.
Women are protesting sex-selective abortions in order to save the female population in India.
Because gender inequality is such an issue in India, they have to show that it all starts with the choice to get a sex-selective abortion.