Discovery of aborted baby girls fuels India's debate on sex-selection abortion

(June 16, 2011) The bodies of nine aborted babies, all girls, were discovered in a drain in India’s western Maharashtra state, in one of regions where sex-selection abortion is most commonplace. The fetal remains were found in the Beed district, where a 2001 census found that there are only 801 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of 6. The national census found that the entire nation of India has a heavily distorted ratio of male infants, due to the widespread preference for boy babies. Although abortion is legal in India, the government has sought unsuccessfully to eliminate sex-selection abortions. Tests to determine the sex of an unborn child are technically illegal, but many clinics provide couples with that information.