More Indian families selectively aborting girls
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 25 May 2011, 01:29 IST
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More Indian families selectively aborting girls
Bangalore: A study revealed that up to 12 million girls were aborted over last three decade in India, reports Reuters. Most of the Indian families, who can afford abortion and does not want their second child to be a girl, go for selective abortion and that most of the educated families go for the selective abortion. The researchers also warned that the figure could rise with falling fertility rates. There were 4 million to 12 million selective abortions from 1980 to 2010. Around 600,000 girls are selectively aborted annually in India, compared with 410,000 terminations a decade ago and 200,000 in 1991, according to the study. The raw data from Indian recent census released in March showed that compared to every 1000 boys, there were only 914 girls who were of the age of 0 to 6 years. In the research, Indian educated family says, "If Nature gives us a first boy, then we don't do anything. But if Nature gives a first girl then perhaps we would consider ultrasound testing and selective abortion for the subsequent children" said Professor Prabhat Jha at the Center for Global Health Research in Toronto, Canada. India enacted a law in 1996 to prevent the use of scanning for prenatal sex determination and selective abortion of girls. But Jha said it was very difficult to enforce because of a huge unregulated private medical practice. He also added that until the government brings health reforms in place and brings doctors into a publicly financed accountable system, it's difficult to go that route. But there is a little ray of hope, as there is little evidence that the law is accomplishing its goal and there are 800 court cases against doctors in 17 states have led to only 55 convictions.

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