Sex Selection and Medical Termination of Pregnancy
Sex Selection and Medical Termination of Pregnancy
With cultural preference of males to females, female foeticide is a serious problem. In an attempt to correct the skewed sex ratio, there is a statutory prohibition of pre-natal diagnosis of the sex of the child in womb. The penal provisions have not improved the situation in their implementation, thanks to lethargy of the enforcement machinery, namely the prosecution agency and courts. Abortion is regulated through law but again not effective enough. The autonomy of a female to protect the foetus is zealously recognized by courts and in two significant cases, one of a pregnant minor woman married to her lover against the wishes of her parents and in another case of a mentally retarded woman ravished by a sentry in the protection home, the courts adopted a pro-life stance and allowed for retention of the foetuses, not withstanding consent for abortion by the parents in the former case and recommendation for termination of pregnancy by a medical board in the latter case.
Keywords: sex selection, pre-conception and pre-natal diagnosis techniques (prohibition of sex selection) act, abortion, medical termination of pregnancy
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
