Indian Campaign Shows Flip Side to Abortion: Female Infanticide

TAMIL NADU, July 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a region of India where 16 of every 1,000 newborn girls are killed after they are born because of a cultural preference for having male offspring, there is mounting effort to combat female infanticide.  The Campaign Against Female Infanticide reports that the mother of an unwanted girl is often as much a victim as the child herself; some mothers commit suicide or suffer other consequences. “The decision to kill the baby is made by her husband and parents-in-law,” said a retired Bombay High Court judge quoted by the BBC, referring to some cases. “If she disobeys, she has to face the wrath of the family.”  Killing baby girls is the flip side to India’s high rate of abortion of unborn females. Birth rates show that instead of nature’s slight preponderance of girls, the ratio in India is 8 girls born alive for every 10 boys.  For BBC coverage of female infanticide:  https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3071747.stm For coverage or the abortion of girls:  https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2765853.stm