Gender Imbalance

Beijing Aims to Toughen Laws on Sex-selective Abortions

In China everyone is familiar with their one child per family law, but now it is starting to backfire. Many families who find out they are having a girl often abort the female fetuses hoping that they will later on have a baby boy. Because of this there is a huge gender imbalance in China. The ratio is about 120 boys to 100 girls, this ratio is about 15-20 percent higher than the ratio for "natural conditions". The natural conditions ratio is about 105 boys to 100 girls. If this ratio keeps going on then it is said that millions of boys that are born today will have a hard time finding a wife. If families keep aborting their female fetuses in hopes of a boy, then the boys and young men will have a very difficult time when it is time for marriage. Beijing is hoping to reverse the imbalance by 2010 and hoping to revise the laws. Currently there is no punishment for having a sex-selective abortion. It is illegal to have a sex-selective abortion but no action has ever been taken.

I think it is good that China is taking action. It is horrible that families abort their fetuses if it is a female just to have a boy. It is obvious that boys are more important in China than girls. If not then families would want to have girls instead of abort them and try to get a boy. I think it is good that China is going to really enforce the ban on having abortions. Yes they are illegal in China, but it is still constantly happening all over China and will continue to go on if the government does not enforce it.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-08-30-voa11.cfm