1. Sex selection in India: Why a ban is not justified.
- Author
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Sterri, Aksel Braanen
- Subjects
SEX preselection ,MOTHER-daughter relationship ,REPRODUCTIVE rights ,REPRODUCTIVE technology ,WOMEN'S rights ,RESEARCH ,ETHICS ,RESEARCH methodology ,MEDICAL cooperation ,EVALUATION research ,CONFLICT (Psychology) ,COMPARATIVE studies ,AUTONOMY (Psychology) ,SOCIAL control - Abstract
When widespread use of sex-selective abortion and sex selection through assisted reproduction lead to severe harms to third parties and perpetuate discrimination, should these practices be banned? In this paper I focus on India and show why a common argument for a ban on sex selection fails even in these circumstances. I set aside a common objection to the argument, namely that women have a right to procreative autonomy that trumps the state's interest in protecting other parties from harm, and argue against the ban on consequentialist grounds. I perform a pairwise comparative analysis of sex selection and its plausible alternatives and argue that that the ban fails to improve the state of affairs relative to a scenario without a ban. The ban makes the situation worse, especially for mothers and their daughters. India should therefore repeal its ban on sex selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
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