”Sex-Determination is illegal”

“Sex-selective abortion is the practice of terminating a pregnancy based upon the predicted sex of the baby. The selective abortion of female foetus is most common in areas where cultural norms value male children over female children.The overall impact of ultrasound screening and sex-selective abortion on female population is a topic of active debate.”

Although sex determination had been criminalized but it still exists in our society. Even today women are forced to abort their girl child. It happens especially in the rural areas. People in such areas need to know that it is a crime. Firstly, because sex determination during pregnancy itself is a crime; secondly, there is no law that approves the process of abortion; thirdly, aborting a child is a murder of an unborn child; and fourthly, a girl child isn’t a liability rather she can be a bread winner just like a male child.

“Some scholars argue that as the proportion of women to men decreases globally, there will be an increase in trafficking and sex work”. Several reports reveal forced marriages, pornography and sex-related crimes as the evil effects of female foeticide and infanticide. Killing a girl child will ultimately cause imbalance to the institution of marriage. If everybody prefers to kill their girl child, then to whom will your boy get married to in future? Think of it before you dare to abort. If you feel that by giving birth to a girl child you will have to take up the liability and if you consider boys as assets, then let me ask you what makes you feel so? Is it the cost of marriage that bothers you? This is what I have always heard when asked to give the reason for preferring a male child over a girl. Educate your girl and she herself will take up the expenses of her marriage. A girl is in no way less than a boy. So stop killing them and start loving them because killing them will lead to a disastrous and abnormal sex ratio.

— About the Author: The article has been contributed by our intern, Amrita Dasgupta.