According to a recent AP story, parents in India are aborting fetus' upon the discovery that the fetus is female.The article states, "In India, there is a huge cultural preference for boys in large part because of the enormous expense in marrying off girls and paying elaborate dowries. Officials have acknowledged that current laws have proved inadequate at combatting [sic] the widening sex ratio gap."
This article got me wondering about the proper feminist response to the situation in India. On the one hand, nothing is more precious to feminist philosophy than reproductive freedom (Abortion is a sacrament to feminism, as Rush says). On the other hand, the Indian situation presents a unique problem for feminism, namely the intentional selecting of female fetus' for abortion. Thus, creating a society where male is good and female is bad.
Selective abortion, based on gender or race, is nothing new. The founding of Planned Parenthood was based on the eradication of minorities from the United States, a purpose for which Planned Parenthood still exists. Nevertheless, the question must be asked, is feminism prepared to defend reproductive freedom at the expense of the status of women in Indian culture?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_INDIA_SEX_SELECTIVE_ABORTIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-24-06-48-11
P.S. It may be too little to late, but the Rob Bell post is coming.
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Interesting read, as usual bro.
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