Sex-Selection Has Long-Term Consequences

Where sex-selection should always be the exception (if it indeed has to happen at all), it has been the rule in some countries.

Authorities are finally taking the whip out on Taiwanese doctors who continue to perform sex-selective abortions, threatening to revoke their license if they’re caught.

The possibility (the AFP piece doesn’t exactly say it’s a done deal) of doctors losing their licenses just doesn’t seem like enough punishment for a practice that’s widely considered a violation of human rights.

Regardless, cracking down on sex-selective abortions in Taiwan is a significant step in evening out imbalanced sex ratios, which have become way out of whack due to male preference. It may be little too late.

This too many boys, too little girls syndrome is now weighing heavily on countries that once enforced gender selection like China, India, South Korea and Taiwan. The long-term social consequences for men are grave, according to Science Daily.

In a more balanced human population, 105 males are born to every 100 females. Almost one boy for every girl. In one of the most extreme examples of gender favouritism, China’s SRB (sex ratio at birth) reached 130 to 105 at the height of its sex-selection practice.

So now this gives you an idea of just how many men are suffering the consequences of not having the chance to get married and raise families of their own. In China, an astonishing “94% of unmarried people aged 28 to 49 are male.” Researchers believe, understandably, that this can cause serious psychological problems in men. They also hypothesize these problems could manifest negatively in society, leading to increased crime and incidents of violence.

Countries like China and Taiwan are taking measures to stop abortion based on ultrasound scan results, realizing the seriousness of the son preference. Birth order may be important in China, India and South Korea, but when it’s shifting gender dynamics to the detriment of society at large, something needs to be done.

Unfortunately, scientists estimate that the consequences can’t escape having long-term effects. Even if authorities and activists work to change people’s attitudes towards gender, the imbalance will most likely remain for two decades.

But the still high sex ratios and forced punishment of doctors (who are willing to perform abortions) reveals this won’t be such an easy task. The trickle-down effect could sit with more than a couple of generations.

What’s done is done, but it’s never too late to make a fresh start. To initiate this cycle of change, let’s agree that this is not a choice parents should have.

Contact the author here: tinybart@morningquickie.com