# If an American woman keeps aborting female babies to get a boy should that be OK legally? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 30, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066 "2010-06-30T15:01:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/1 "2010-06-30T15:01:18Z")
Per the impact of [sex selection in India thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=569068) I ran across [this article](http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=98886)which implies that [sex selective abortions](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex-selective_abortion) are happening in the US within certain ethnic cohorts. It is a basic presumption and valued right among most American women that a woman has the more or less absolute right to determine if she wants to carry a baby to term or terminate it. Does using abortion for sex selection change this right? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/2 "2010-06-30T15:03:41Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Does using abortion for sex selection change this right? No. It’s stupid behavior but no rights are being violated. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/3 "2010-06-30T15:05:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Does using abortion for sex selection change this right? No, of course not. I’m puzzled why you would even ask this. 😕 ETA: > [@](#): > > If an American woman keeps aborting female babies to get a boy should that be OK legally? Yes, of course it is ok legally. Currently you can abort a fetus for any reason or none at all. Having a reason doesn’t change the legality. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/4 "2010-06-30T15:44:34Z")
Yes, it’s legal. I would have little respect for such a woman. And for her husband–because this sort of thing occurs in strongly patriarchal societies & he probably influenced her decision. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/5 "2010-06-30T15:45:19Z")
> [@astro](#): > > It is a basic presumption and valued right among most American women that a woman has the more or less absolute right to determine if she wants to carry a baby to term or terminate it. This is not correct. The states can limit elective abortion after viability. But, as long as the woman is having an abortion prior to her state’s cut-off, there is no legal issue. However, I suspect that quite a few abortion providers would have an ethical problem with using abortion as a sex selection method. There might even be some AMA guidelines concerning this issue. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/6 "2010-06-30T15:45:31Z")
I find it massively personally distasteful and offensive, but yes, it is and should be legal. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/7 "2010-06-30T15:47:44Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Yes, it’s legal. > > I would have little respect for such a woman. And for her husband–because this sort of thing occurs in strongly patriarchal societies & he probably influenced her decision. Of course, with a tiny change in the hypothetical, we could make it so you couldn’t immediately look around for a man to blame. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/8 "2010-06-30T15:51:28Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Of course, with a tiny change in the hypothetical, we could make it so you couldn’t immediately look around for a man to blame. :rolleyes: Yes, I know. It’s all Eve’s fault… ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/9 "2010-06-30T16:42:05Z")
Of course it shouldn’t be legal. I can’t believe it’s even a question. It’s disgusting behavior and an unnecessary murder. Cue the baby killers telling me that I hate women in 3, 2, 1… ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/10 "2010-06-30T16:57:39Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Of course it shouldn’t be legal. I can’t believe it’s even a question. It’s disgusting behavior and an unnecessary murder. Are you opposed to abortion in general, or just this specific type of abortion? And if just this specific type of abortion, then why should it be illegal when other types are legal? ETA: Nevermind, I should have read your post more closely. Your use of the term “baby killers” almost certainly puts you in the former camp. Disregard. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/11 "2010-06-30T17:02:01Z")
I find some of these responses odd. Seems to me that if you feel abortion in general is murder, so you are going to feel that this hypothetical is wrong, of course. But if you don’t think it’s murder, and that an embryo/fetus isn’t a person with the rights of a person, who cares what the circumstances are behind the abortion are? I guess some people think of it as something like half a person? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/12 "2010-06-30T17:05:13Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Cue the baby killers telling me that I hate women in 3, 2, 1… This is poisoning the well. Please state your opinions without making slurs on people who don’t agree with you. This also goes for people who object to the above statement. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/13 "2010-06-30T17:10:56Z")
Must it be an all or nothing? I support abortion for necessity. When it comes to medical complications in either the mother or the fetus, or inability to support a child, the mother comes before the fetus every time. But aborting because you don’t like the gender of the child or some other aesthetic or cosmetic reason is an unnecessary waste, and I wouldn’t really have a problem with a line drawn in the legal sand there. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/14 "2010-06-30T17:14:59Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > But aborting because you don’t like the gender of the child or some other aesthetic or cosmetic reason is an unnecessary waste, and I wouldn’t really have a problem with a line drawn in the legal sand there. I’m not sure what it’s a waste _of_, but even ignoring that, you would have an awfully hard time enforcing this line in the sand. How would you prove that someone had an abortion for the wrong reason? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/15 "2010-06-30T17:20:10Z")
I support the woman’s right to choose regardless of how she makes her decision. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/16 "2010-06-30T17:24:57Z")
I think it’s extremely unwise to practice gender selective abortions, for the same reasons India and China are facing - a dramatically skewed ratio of women to men, which, perhaps counter intuitively, depresses the rights of women even further. Not to mention, leaves a lot of horny young men with no prospects for wives, pushing them to seek less savory sexual and political outlets. But I don’t think it should be made illegal. I think, should it become a likely widespread problem in the US, we should consider incentives, like extra money for girls’ education, or social pressure to stop it, but not the law. I’m more concerned with the slippery slope of limiting access to abortions than I am with gender selective abortions in our culture. Furthermore, I don’t believe that laws against gender selective abortions have worked well to repress the practice in other countries, so I don’t see why we should adopt measures that don’t work, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/17 "2010-06-30T17:27:41Z")
The question is inane. Abortion has been legal in this country for nearly 40 years, and in some places much longer. Women have had the opportunity to pursue recurring abortion for purposes of sex selection for decades. And yet, there’s no evidence of which I’m aware that this happens in any serious number. So while there’s an obvious answer to the question, even for those who disagree, it has no impact on policy – the question assumes a condition which, plainly, does not obtain. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/18 "2010-06-30T17:29:54Z")
If an abortion is within the constitutional right of privacy, then the “reason” is something I never learn. It’s none of my business. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/19 "2010-06-30T17:31:17Z")
I have to admit, Chinese and Indian demographics will prove most interesting to watch from a safe distance over the coming decades. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066/20 "2010-06-30T17:35:50Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > The question is inane. Abortion has been legal in this country for nearly 40 years, and in some places much longer. Women have had the opportunity to pursue recurring abortion for purposes of sex selection for decades. And yet, there’s no evidence of which I’m aware that this happens in any serious number. So while there’s an obvious answer to the question, even for those who disagree, it has no impact on policy – the question assumes a condition which, plainly, does not obtain. > > –Cliffy Not really. The number of immigrants for China and India has been significant in the last 40 years, and that’s just two countries I can think of off the top of my head where sons are valued over daughters. Forty years ago, immigration from China was nil. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-american-woman-keeps-aborting-female-babies-to-get-a-boy-should-that-be-ok-legally/545066.md?page=2)