Democrats: Sex-Selection Abortion Ban is Anti-Woman

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   May 30, 2012   |   6:35PM   |   Washington, DC

Democrats in Congress peddled a curious reason for opposing a ban on sex-selection abortions that target girl babies with abortion because they are not boys parents may prefer. They said the ban was anti-woman and part of the so-called “War on Women” Republicans are allegedly waging.

During today’s debate on the Congressional bill to ban sex-selection abortions, Michigan Democrat John Conyers said the ban on sex-selection abortions “tramples the rights of women.”

“It limits a woman’s right to choose and jeopardizes her access to safe, legal medical care,” he claimed.

Conyers, ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, went as far as fighting GOP attempts to name the bill after Susan B. Anthony to honor women.

Jarrold Nadler, of New York, said the ban on sex-selection abortions is the “latest tactic in the War on Women.” Rep. Hank Johnson said the bill was part of the “Republican War on Women.” And Barbara Lee of California went as far as claiming that women would resort to back alley abortions if they couldn’t obtain a sex-selection abortion like the ones the bill would ban.

But pro-life advocates say the Democrats are ignoring the real war on women.

Rep. Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican, said during the debate:  “A minority baby is currently five times more likely to be aborted than a white baby, and nearly half of all black babies are aborted, with over 70 percent of abortion clinics being located in predominantly minority neighborhoods.”

In a letter Wednesday, Americans United for Life urged House members to “stop a real war on women — sex selection abortions” by supporting the legislation.

“This is a real war on women,” said AUL leader Charmaine Yoest. “And it is wrong when we turn a blind eye to women being eliminated in the womb simply for being a member of the female sex.”

“There is nothing pro-woman about killing a baby girl because she is female, and putting her mother’s health and safety at risk in the process,” she said. “Americans—whether pro-life or pro-abortion—overwhelmingly oppose this barbaric practice that undermines the dignity of the human person and agree that sex-selection abortion should be illegal.  AULA calls on all Members of the House to vote for PRENDA to stop the war on women yet to be born.”

Congressman Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, drove the point home about how and why the bill is pro-woman.

“For most of us, Mr. Speaker, “it’s a girl” is cause for enormous joy, happiness and celebration.  But in many countries—including our own—it can be a death sentence.   Today, the three most dangerous words in China and India are: it’s a girl.  We can’t let that happen here,” he explained. “By now most people know that the killing of baby girls by abortion or at birth is pervasive in China due to the One Child policy and a preference for sons.  China and India are “missing” tens of millions of daughters.”

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Smith continued:  “In her book,  Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men, Mara Hvistendahl,  traces the sordid history of sex-selection abortion as a means of population control.  “By August 1969, when the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Population Council convened another workshop on population control, sex selection had become a pet scheme… Sex selection, moreover, had the added advantage of reducing the number of potential mothers…if a reliable sex determination technology could be made available to a mass market,” there was “rough consensus” that sex selection abortion  “ would be an effective, uncontroversial and ethical way of reducing the global population.”

“Fewer women, fewer mothers, fewer future children,” Smith said.

Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, told LifeNews the bill shows the extremity of leading pro-abortion groups, who all oppose the sex-selection abortion ban.

“Late yesterday, after some apparent hesitation, the major pro-abortion advocacy groups (PPFA, NARAL, ACLU, et al) each issued letters taking a strong line against the bill,” he said. “This puts a lot of House members, mostly Democrats, in a tough spot.  On the one hand, 77% of the public believes the use of abortion for sex selection should be banned, and only 16% say it should be legal.  (Among women, support for making it illegal is stronger — 80 to 13 percent.)  But on the other hand, the hard-line pro-abortion political groups are threatening to punish the pro-abortion Democrats if they vote for it.”

At least four academic institutions have released studies demonstrating a trend of sex-selection in the United States, with Columbia University finding “strong son bias” in some American communities, noting the data show “clear evidence of sex-selection, most likely at the prenatal stage.” Furthermore, a 2006 Zogby International poll of 30,000 Americans showed that 86% of the American public desired a law to ban sex-selection abortion.