Eugenics is defined as "The science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics." My supposition for this thread is that many families in India (as well as many other countries) engage in eugenics by forcing the abortion of female fetuses, some well into the 2nd trimester. Whether this could be considered to be true eugenics is debatable, to me though these practices are kin to it. The goal for some of these forced abortions appears to be dowries (money), illegal since 1961 in India, that is still in practice today. Families demand that males be born in order for the family to become more wealthy. A woman who is shown to be carrying a female fetus is scorned, ridiculed, and even beaten by family members... and then forced to have an abortion. Sometimes it's a matter of continuing the family lineage. "There is no happiness when a girl is born," they will marry and join another family. Even Delhi's prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences has condoned this practice (in 1974). "...it encouraged the determination and elimination of female fetuses as an effective tool of population control." Soon afterwards clinics were advertising their experience in abortions "...they had 10 years' experience in eliminating girl children and inviting parents to come to them." The Indian government has attempted to stop the practice, having created laws against abortions based on gender... "In 1994, the Pre-Natal Determination Test (PNDT) Act outlawed sex-selective abortion. In 2004, it was amended to include gender selection even at the pre-conception stage." ...but the enforcement, or even implementation, of these laws has been lax. _________________________________________________________________________ A BBC news article with 1st-hand accounts from women who were forced to have abortions by their families. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13264301 _________________________________________________________________________ More about eugenics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics
