Doctor Jailed For Aborting Foetus Just Because It Was A Girl, India

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Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 29 Mar 2006 - 16:00 PDT

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Dr Anil Sabhani, and his assistant, Kartar Singh, have been jailed for two years for telling a pregnant woman her fetus was a girl and then agreeing to get rid of it for her by abortion - the first time any doctor in India has been imprisoned for doing so.

In India it is illegal to use ultrasound tests to find out what sex the unborn child is. According to recent estimates, over ten million unborn girls have been aborted in India over the last two decades.

Government officials had sent three women, all of them pregnant, to find out whether anyone in Dr Anil Sabhani's clinic would carry out an abortion just because of sex selection. The doctor was caught on video telling one of the women that her unborn child was a girl and that he 'would take care of it'.

Unlike most other countries in the world, India's male/female sex ratio is tipped towards more males. In most countries there are slightly more females in the whole population than males - in India it is the other way round. Probably as a result of so many abortions of female unborn babies. For cultural reasons, people in India have tended to prefer to have boys.

In 1901 in India, there were 972 women to every 1,000 men. By 2001 there were 933 women to every 1,000 men. In some parts of the country there are only 861 women to every 1,000 men (Haryana). Estimates put the ratio today (2006) at about 927 women to every 1,000 men.

Twelve years ago new legislation was introduced to stop sex selection abortions. Unfortunately, it has taken twelve years for a doctor to receive a prison sentence.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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