Over the past few days, the issue of sex-selective abortions has been discussed in almost every major news outlet in Canada. The issue arises from reports of women from certain ethnic backgrounds (primarily, Asian) electing to abort female fetuses.  Canada is just the most recent country to try to grapple with this practice; American legislators have been looking at this issue for a while and attempts to make sex-selective abortions illegal are currently underway. China, India and South Korea have also tried to curtail the practice, with limited success.

To deal with the situation in Canada, the Canadian Medical Association Journal has issued an op-ed piece calling for medical practitioners to not tell people the sex of their fetus until after the 30 week mark (at which point, it would be difficult to obtain an abortion). On the surface, this seems like a good solution, but it may underestimate the lengths people will go to in order to not raise daughters.

China’s one-child policy has had the unintended consequence of large-scale gender imbalance and crime. Sex-selective abortion, child abandonment, adoption and (rumoured) infanticide have reduced the female population dramatically. According to the British Medical Journal, it is estimated that there are between 30 and 50 million more Chinese men than women and that 24 million Chinese men will be unable to find brides by 2020. The solution? Kidnapping, of course! Human trafficking of women to China is on the rise, according to the US State Department.

We should learn from the Chinese experience. While sex-selective abortion is a disgusting and abhorrent practice, attempting to curb it may make the situation worse. Can parents who don’t want daughters be trusted with their care? Or, will forcing people to become the unwilling birth parents of girls lead to abuse, abandonment, neglect or worse? Will we really have solved anything if baby girls are put up for adoption or bounced through foster systems?

What we are dealing with isn’t a legal issue or a medical one. This isn’t about abortion. This is about the role, value and importance of girls in specific cultures. Legislation can’t create values or culture. It can, however, help to change and influence them. What is needed isn’t a law to lock up sonogram technicians, but public policies and programs that increase the value of girls and change attitudes toward them.

Read More:
Are Gender Selection Tests at 7 Weeks Unethical?
Tests Performed During Pregnancy
Attawapiskat Doctor on How Crisis is Affecting Women and Children