Kiya, I appreciate your heartfelt reply. In some respects I agree with you, but we also have some fundamental differences which I invite you to address if it suits you. The only manner in which abortion can be justified as a woman's right to choose is if the fetus is not considered to be a child, a human being. Clearly if the fetus is truly a human being then abortion is the equivalent of killing or murder. So if the fetus is not human, not a child, then it shouldn't make any difference to an advocate of a woman's right to choose whether or not it is female. You say "Females should not be treated like waste refuse." Neither should any child/fetus. You say "Outer conditions (social, religious, traditional etc.) should not pre-determine her individual personal self-responsible choice - this goes for either way, abortion or not." Even in the West do women not choose to have abortions because of outer conditions such as family, career, soccial, etc. Some women will choose to abort a child for economic reasons. This is the same in India. You say "In the best case, both parties should be able to decide, as there is still a male part involved when it comes to responsibility, right?" It is my understanding that in many cases it actually is the man who pushes the woman to have an abortion; she is the one who will carry the scars. Where is the woman's right to choose? Abortion of a fetus/child just because it is female is heinous. I fully agree with you there. It degrades and debases the humanity of the woman and man who decide to do it. I would argue that with the exceptions of rape, incest, and saving the life of the mother, any abortion degrades and debases the humanity of the woman and man who decide to do it. We devalue human life by supporting abortion, and the abortion of females in India is a glaring example of the outcome. If abortion is considered to be an acceptable means of family planning, well, isn't female feticide a form of family planning, as reprehensible as it may be?
The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer? ~Jeremy Bentham
