Abortion based on sex of the child

[Apeman81]

What say you?

[Angry Citizen]

Why not?

[Jack]

While I personally would never consider gender to be a sensible reason for getting an abortion (and acknowledging I'll never be in a position to make that decision), legal abortions don't, as far as I know, require a woman to state the reason she's seeking one. If the gender of her child is for some reason important to her then she's free to act on that, just like some women will seek an abortion for a child diagnosed with a life threatening or terminal illness while others will decide to give birth to a child in that condition.

[JimmyNic]

While I personally would never consider gender to be a sensible reason for getting an abortion (and acknowledging I'll never be in a position to make that decision), legal abortions don't, as far as I know, require a woman to state the reason she's seeking one. If the gender of her child is for some reason important to her then she's free to act on that, just like some women will seek an abortion for a child diagnosed with a life threatening or terminal illness while others will decide to give birth to a child in that condition.

I believe this is the position in the UK as well.

I'm pro-choice, but I don't think abortion should be encouraged for such a superfluous reason. Abortion should be a last resort for failed contraceptives or genetic defects, not any other reason.

[kingjust627]

What say you?

The real question should be what does it matter to you (or anyone for that matter) if it isn't your child. A non issue, though contreversial, trivial to the banes of our society.

[minorwork]

Wondered when you'd catch on to the topic.

Survival of the species may rest with the diversity that comes from individuals directing their own evolution on a whim even. Would a diverse or homogenous species be more apt to survive an extinction type of event? I think diversity.

The risk of self-directed evolution? Techniques like PGD (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis) being so expensive that only the rich may participate for better or worse in the experiment that may foster Eloi/Morlock types of class distinctions. A stretch surely that would be way down the line. Breast cancer might be eradicated in the families of those who could afford the PGD procedure.

Yes, with PGD available to gender select the undesired embryos are flushed.

“We have been God-like in our planned breeding of our domesticated plants and animals, but we have been rabbit-like in our unplanned breeding of ourselves” ~ Arnold Toynbee

[grandpa]

Wondered when you'd catch on to the topic.
Survival of the species may rest with the diversity that
comes from individuals directing their own evolution on a whim
even.

For me it's more of an individual decision than something in a society or family. I wouldn't make the decision myself. In fact, I literally couldn't as I am a man.

Dr. Timothy Leary, Ph.D.:
"We...God-loving, peace-loving, life-loving, fun-loving
men and
women, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the Universe for the rectitude of
our intentions, do, in the name and by the Authority of all sentient beings
who seek gently to evolve on this planet, solemnly publish and declare that
we are free and independent, and that we are absolved from all Allegiance to
the United States Government and all governments controlled by the
menopausal, and that grouping ourselves into tribes of like-minded fellows,
we claim full power to live and move on the land, obtain sustenance with our
own hands and minds in the style which seems sacred and holy to us, and to do
all Acts and Things which independent Freemen and Freewomen may of right do
without infringing on the same rights of other species and groups to do their
own thing.
And for the support of this Declaration of Evolution with a firm reliance
on the protection of Divine Providence, and serenely confident of the
approval of generations to come, in whose name we speak, do we now mutually
pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor."
http://downlode.org/Etext/declaration_evolution.html

I'm not "god-loving" myself, but I like the gist of this declaration anyway.

Grandpa h.

[Dieval]

What say you?

Aborting a child based on its sex is probably the stupidest thing I've heard of.

[Maryjane]

Aborting a child based on its sex is probably the stupidest thing I've heard of.

I think aborting them because one's worried about their sexuality (them being gay) is stupidest thing I've heard.

Couples going through in -vitro fertilization cull embryos based on their gender.

Gender Selection for Medical Reasons

When gender selection is used to prevent a genetic disease, the process is called "medical gender selection." Some diseases, so called "sex-linked diseases," are inherited via the mother but only male offspring are affected by them (muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, etc.); In other cases, conditions are more severely expressed in one gender (Fragile X syndrome, autism in males, etc.) than the other. Medical reasons for gender selection can, however, also be psychological: a single female may feel better equipped having a daughter than a son; parents who lost a child may feel a strong need for a child of the same gender.

http://www.centerforhumanreprod.com/...selection.html

[Dieval]

I think aborting them because one's worried about their sexuality (them being gay) is stupidest thing I've heard.

I didn't know that was what we were talking about or that it could be determined prior to birth...

Couples going through in -vitro fertilization cull embryos based on their gender.



http://www.centerforhumanreprod.com/...selection.html

That's still a bit different than just outright aborting a child based on it's sex.

[Maryjane]

That's still a bit different than just outright aborting a child based on it's sex.

Title of the OP:

Should a person be able to abort their child based upon gender?

Is it different? Does that change your original answer?

Aborting a child based on its sex is probably the stupidest thing I've heard of.

[lili462]

If women have the rights to have abortions then they should just be able to go and get one, without having to explain why they want it.

Why does race even have to be a factor in this? Women get abortions all the time because they simply just don't want a child. Do I or a lot of people think that's a good reason? No, but it's their body and it's their choice frankly.