How Can You Support Abortion But Oppose Sex-Selection Abortions?

International   |   Lisa Correnti   |   Sep 17, 2013   |   2:57PM   |   Washington, DC

Last week a congressional hearing examined the gendercide taking place in India due to a culture that prefers sons.

The skewed sex ratio brought about by coercive population control programs that sought to limit family size exacerbates already harmful discriminatory practices against women including bride-selling, bride-sharing, trafficking of young women and girls for prostitution, and sexual assault.

Though sex determination has been illegal for almost 20 years its widespread abuse continues as many women are under pressure from family members to have sons. Consequently over 5,000 baby girls are aborted daily in India.

While human rights advocates are alarmed at the practice of sex-selective abortion they condemn any attempts to restrict or outlaw abortion. They fail to recognize that without starting with the fundamental principle that all life has value and must be safeguarded, any attempts to end sex-selective abortion will be limited.

How do you rationalize to a culture where you are attempting to change hearts and minds on the value of girls — that killing an unborn baby girl is ok if you don’t wish to have any children but not ok if you do?

LifeNews.com Note: Lisa Correnti writes for the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. This article originally appeared in the pro-life group’s Turtle Bay and Beyond blog and is used with permission.