Hinduism, like other religions, has been misused to justify the oppression of women. But properly understood, it is a challenge to sexism as well as to the oppression of the unborn. Indeed, some Hindus have noted the karmic link between the.The Case of Sex-Selective Abortionppression of already-born women and girls and the oppression of the unborn — especially in their objections to the tremendous economic and social pressures upon Indian women to marry and to bear sons instead of daughters. Sons are preferred in large part because a bride’s family is traditionally expected to pay a dowry to the groom’s family, and women have few or no options for economic support other than marriage. As in many other countries, female infanticide has been practiced in India for centuries. When amniocentesis became available in the 1970s, it became possible to practice female infanticide before delivery as well as after.
Many families have sought prenatal diagnosis–sometimes with every pregnancy– with the intent of aborting any fetuses that turn out to be female. According to a 1994 estimate, one million female fetuses a year were aborted in India alone. Poor families especially have been vulnerable to the widespread advertising slogan for prenatal diagnosis: “Spend 500 Rupees Now, Save Five Lakhs Later.” (A lakh is equal to 100,000 rupees.) This slogan plays directly on the fear of economic catastrophe that the prospect of paying a daughter’s dowry has often generated. One woman tearfully explained why she succumbed to this fear and aborted her baby girl, even though she felt that “each child is sent by God.” Her husband, she said, “has a right to a son” and she feared “my husband will divorce me and take a new wife who will give him sons,” thereby abandoning her to economic ruin.
What happened to our time-honored dharma [natural law of holy living] and duty to our children? Illiteracy, poverty and the dowry system have corrupted the society to the level of barbarianism. The man blames the woman for bearing a female child while he himself is [biologically] responsible for determining the sex of the baby. This fact ought to be taught first to the people. Next comes the public education regarding the dowry system. It is time that the women are bought with love and respect instead of money. Those of us who have come away from such a conducive atmosphere should not kill unborn female babies in the name of abortion once the sex of the fetus is known. We have to set an example and bring back the value of human life irrespective of the sexes.
The practice of sex-selective abortion has even proved directly harmful to girls who have survived past infancy.
Two sisters in the Punjab [region of Northern India] committed suicide. Before that, they left a note for their parents....It is a telling story of how these young girls feel. They were very bright; they were very creative. They used to participate in all extra-curricular activities. They used to write poetry. When their mother went for a sex determination test at the time of her third pregnancy, they suddenly felt unimportant and unwanted and killed themselves.
Some Hindus are actively seeking to break the cycle of violence involved in abortion through the measures of education and marriage. Precautions are there for those who are not prepared to raise a child. There are Hindus who see adoption as a positive solution. A Hindu couple living in the United States who adopted an Indian girl, hoping to clear the negative karma of two past abortions. In the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the chief minister offers the White Cradle Program as an alternative to female infanticide (before and after birth). Cradles have been set up in hospitals and other places so mothers can leave their babies anonymously. The government finds adoptive homes for these babies and promises the adoptive families financial assistance until the children reach the age of 21.
For those Hindus who are not aware of the [soul-evolutionary] truths, it is our responsibility to advise them not to undertake abortion. Female feticide is a powerful example of how abortion–like any other violence to sentient beings–proves that an injury to one is indeed an injury to all. Hinduism compellingly explains why this is so, but one need not be Hindu to also conclude that abortion generates bad karma which harms the whole web of life.