If discrimination is the main problem here, as the Prime Minister suggests, a simple solution would be to advocate for more male abortions. The tactic that they have chosen has been to make it illegal for medical personnel to tell a parent (a term the article uses) the sex of their child.
“No nation, no society, no community can hold its head high and claim to be part of the civilized world if it condones the practice of discriminating against one half of humanity represented by women,” Mr. Singh said, giving an inaugural speech at a national conference dedicating to “saving the girl child,” which brought together politicians, doctors and advocates.
In other words, having an abortion without knowing the sex of the child you are electively killing is a legal, sanctioned right. Telling a couple the sex of their child is punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Aborting a female child for economic reasons is described as "this terrible onslaught on our civilization."
By fully embracing population control policies that resulted in abortion being seen as an acceptable and even encouraged means to control population, India set the stage for this situation. Now, since it can not backtrack from this failed policy, and see abortion as the wrong that it is, it is stuck with this situation.
If you read the article without any inferences, you don't get the idea that the government is condoning abortions. Abortions in India, 99% of them, are because of the gender of the child. So by eliminating the sex-preference that seems to be going on, you will virtually eradicate abortions.
ReplyDeleteI think your conclusion that "having an abortion without knowing the sex of the child you are electively killing is a legal, sanctioned right" cannot be made from just the text of the article.
Indian Christian,
ReplyDeleteI read the article after your comment and I think that Serge's point is well taken. Whatever the heartfelt beliefs on abortion of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he unfortunately expressed his moral outrage as a by product of disrimination not a vioulation of basic human rights.
Even though your contention is correct that eliminating sex selection abortions in India virtually eliminates abortion in India, if the problem is unequal treatment and not the basic human right to life then Serge's reduction seems to be valid. Eliminate as many boys as girls and the charge of unequal treatment is answered.
You can charge Serge with being zealous, but I fail to see how he was inaccurate. All people that stand against abortion need to be clear WHY it is wrong. Sex selection abortion is not wrong because it is discriminatory. It is wrong because we do not kill innocent human beings for elective reasons. Not if we wish to be moral people. If Singh believes that he needs to be certain he is saying that as well.
God bless,
Jay
Hi Indian Christian.
ReplyDeleteI did not get the information on the abortion situation in India just on that article. Abortion is legal in India as long as it is done for financial difficulties or for a "contraceptive failure" for a fetus up to twenty weeks. I'm sure you can see that this pretty much provides no limitations.
Right now I'm reading a book by a secular historian detailing the effects of the population control efforts world wide (called Fatal Misconception). That book details the change that had occurred in India regarding abortion and its efforts in population control starting in the late sixties. If you assert that having a right to abortion is something which empowers women and at the same time is an effective means of controlling population in order to get your country out of third world status - things like sex-selection abortions are a predictable consequence.
I found the PMs message a bit strange. There was no mention of abortion for male fetuses. Also, abortion is OK (he never spoke out against abortion in general, only if the child is female), but finding the sex of your child is not. A doctor can be put in jail for five years for telling a Mom its a boy or girl, but is allowed to kill the same child as long as they do not know its sex. That seems odd, don't you think?