Legalize: Sex selective abortion

I believe that medically assisted sex selective abortion should be legalized in India. I am not saying that sex selective abortion should be practiced; I am only saying that people have a right to do it. Definition: Sex-selective abortion is the practice of terminating a pregnancy based upon the predicted sex of the fetus. Abbreviation (for the purposes of this debate): SSA. Morality of abortion: The government of India has legalized abortion in India. "The government of India, anticipating a catastrophe in the form of severe imbalance in the male-female ratio, has passed an act to prevent sex selective abortion. "This act must be repealed. Let us look at some of the reasons for legalizing sex selective abortion- 1) Safeguarding the health of women: Even though it is illegal, sex selective abortion is still widely practiced. Due to its illegality, women may resort to unscientific methods or take medical assistance from unqualified professionals. This may result in complications and end up harming the patient. By legalizing SSA, women will be able to avail of proper medical assistance. Some women can afford to go abroad for the procedure but this will result in increased expenses which cannot be borne by many poor women. 2)Ending female infanticide: Since many women cannot avail of SSA (due to its illegality), they resort to female infanticide. It should be noted that female infanticide is treated as homicide. 3) Proper care to the girl child: Couples who did not want a girl child and did not resort to female foeticide/infanticide may discriminate against the girl child. This discrimination may show itself through malnutrition, denial of higher education etc. If SSA is legalized, couples will have no reason to discriminate on the basis of gender; the girl child will be more likely to receive proper attention. 4) Ethical perspective: If a couple feels that its evolutionary interests can best be handled by a specific gender, they have a right to choose which gender they want to raise, irrespective of the scientific/logical validity of their decision. This is because the couple will be investing significant resources in the upbringing of their child (time/money etc). Let us look at the effects of an imbalanced sex ratio: 1)Reduction in poverty: The government has illegalized SSA because it anticipates a skewed sex ratio. Due to a decrease in availability of females, many men will not be able reproduce. In general these men will come from the lower classes. The future generation will largely come from families which can give proper attention to their children (education etc.) 2)Stabilization of population: The Indian population is growing at an unsustainable rate. A skewed sex ratio will decrease the number of families. This will result in a decreased population growth rate. A decrease in birth rate is necessary for a sustainable existence. 3)Improvement in the status of women: Due to a skew in demand and supply, women will be able to demand greater status for themselves. There will be a change in culture; I anticipate an improvement in the status of women. Widow Remarriage: Due to a decrease in availability of women, men will be more likely to marry widows/divorced women. Thus the society will become more accepting of widowed/divorced women. The reader will have noticed that my arguments seem to be centered on the female gender; this is because SSA is largely practiced with respect to this gender. I am pro for both: male & female foeticide.