Possibly 200 Million Girls Missing Due to Sex-Selection Abortion

International   |   Jessica Prol   |   Oct 23, 2012   |   12:15PM   |   Washington, DC

October 11 marked the first ever “International Day of the Girl Child.”

The initiative began as a project of Plan International, and has been adopted as a UN Resolution. The goal of the day? To recognize that the “empowerment of and investment in girls … are critical for economic growth,” and that girls must be protected from discrimination and violence.

Maybe it’s my New Jersey roots and my athletic inclinations, but I’ll go to the mat when girls get pushed around.

Whatever your political stripe the following “girl problems” should be concerning:

  • Female genital mutilation remains a prevalent and culturally acceptable practice in certain regions of the world.
  • Girls like 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai are being attacked and killed because they dare to dream about getting an education similar to that of their brothers.

That said, our advocacy for girls is a short-sighted and flimsy if we fail to address the matter of gender discrimination in the womb. This should not be a politically divisive issue. If you care about girls, you should care that their lives are being snuffed out because they have been positively identified as girls.

Marie Smith, Executive Director at the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues stated the case as follows:

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“Sex selection abortion is the beginning of gendercide. Sex selection abortion considers the lives of the youngest of females to be without worth or value. Sex selection abortion is gender based violence against the most defenseless of girls. There ought to be universal cries against sex selection abortion on this day and everyday but the most strident pro-abortion activists allow this discrimination against girls to continue adhering to unconditional support for abortion on demand. Even if it means baby girls die because they are not boys.”

According to human rights activist, Reggie Littlejohn, “Experts estimate that between 160 and 200 million women are missing in the world today because of the sex-selective abortion of baby girls.”

But this absence of girls isn’t merely an academic matter of demography. Littlejohn continues, “Because of this gendercide, there are now 37 million more men living in China than women, which gender imbalance is driving human trafficking and sexual slavery not only in China but in many of the surrounding nations as well.”

Littlejohn’s organization has launched its “Save a Girl Campaign” to raise awareness and support women who are at risk of aborting or abandoning their baby girls. If we’re going to brag about girl power, let’s start by giving them a chance to be born.

LifeNews Note: Jessica Prol is managing editor for policy publications at the Family Research Council.