Most recently I've posted here and here about the phenomenon of female foeticide. Otherwise known as sex-selective abortion, female foeticide occurs when parents combine ultrasound technology with liberal access to abortion to weed out the unwanted girl child before birth. Female foeticide has caused the balance of female:male live births to plummet enormously in parts of the world including several states in India.
But now for the "good" news from The Economist--"The War on Baby Girls Dies Down." Even a cursory review of the information presented suggests little more than that the rate of of female foeticide is falling. In other words, in most of the countries mentioned, sex-selective abortion is still occurring albeit not at as disproportionate a rate as in the recent past. Better than the other direction to be sure but not quite good news.
Even as the rate of female:males births trends toward normal, one is left with a worrisome suspicion that the cause is as likely that the abortion rate of preborn males is increasing as it is that the abortion rate of females is decreasing. To no one's surprise, The Economist doesn't express interest in this question.
While the data from the various countries mentioned is not certain, and in most it is of only a short period of time, it is possible that a combination of public health education, statutes, and the law written on people's hearts is having an impact. Let us pray that's the case and that the number of "missing girls" (roughly 45 million) grows no larger.
But now for the "good" news from The Economist--"The War on Baby Girls Dies Down." Even a cursory review of the information presented suggests little more than that the rate of of female foeticide is falling. In other words, in most of the countries mentioned, sex-selective abortion is still occurring albeit not at as disproportionate a rate as in the recent past. Better than the other direction to be sure but not quite good news.
Even as the rate of female:males births trends toward normal, one is left with a worrisome suspicion that the cause is as likely that the abortion rate of preborn males is increasing as it is that the abortion rate of females is decreasing. To no one's surprise, The Economist doesn't express interest in this question.
While the data from the various countries mentioned is not certain, and in most it is of only a short period of time, it is possible that a combination of public health education, statutes, and the law written on people's hearts is having an impact. Let us pray that's the case and that the number of "missing girls" (roughly 45 million) grows no larger.
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