The Indian government plans to give cash incentives to the families of baby girls in an effort to limit the number of abortions of females because of a preference for sons.

Staggered payments would be made to families to “encourage them for better upbringing of girl child and to educate her”, women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhury said in a statement released late Monday…

In India, sons are typically regarded as breadwinners but girls as a burden because of the matrimonial dowry demanded by a groom’s family.

India has strict laws against sex-selective abortion, but there have been only a handful of prosecutions as medical practioners are reputed to have made it a profitable business.

Sad, but, true.




  1. Sea Lawyer says:

    Well, I suppose one way to control overpopulation is to terminate the ones who are capable of producing more.

  2. HMeyers says:

    It’s their money and how they spend their hard-earned technical support call center profits on themselves is their business.

    I mean, it’s how they are choosing to spend their money.

    Every third world country has dopey traditions that cause their society problems.

  3. Dallas says:

    Theoretically, more gay males are the perfect solution to population crisis.
    > Reproduction problem solved
    > Butch types can be sent to war (figure 20%)so republicans have plenty males to slaughter
    > Household spends more, eats out more so growing service industry flourishes
    > No litter, beautiful cities and great hair goes without saying
    > According to Pat Robertson, we all die of aids young so we pay into social security system and draw nothing.
    > I’m sure benefits far outweigh the burden of obnoxious things like excess tracklighting

    There should be a tax credit for gay males. Lesbians are too much trouble, IMHO

  4. Bob says:

    #3 way to turn something that has nothing to do with republicans, into an attempted slam against republicans.

    You sir are a perfect example of a neo-lib

  5. jbenson2 says:

    There is a major flaw in this plan.

    The groom’s family will demand a larger dowry.

  6. HMeyers says:

    Bob … methinks you are being too picky about his obviously humorous reply.

  7. Calin says:

    If it’s just a cluster of cells, who cares if they abort it?

  8. tchamp2 says:

    Well, it’s sad that it has to come to this, but being ardently pro-life, if it saves some lives it would be worth it.

    Problem I see is it might then cause the opposite effect in some cases where people might try for girls. With their culture, though, I doubt that is a big problem.

  9. Ron Larson says:

    I find it extremely ironic that millions of young men in the Arab world can not get married because they can’t raise the capital needed to pay the dowry a bride’s family demands. Yet over in India, not that far away, millions of young women can’t get married because her family can’t raise the dowry needed to pay off the husband’s family.

    Something is seriously screwed up.

    If they can put their religious differences aside (fat chance), the solution may be just a few hundred miles away.

  10. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    #2 – Every third world country has dopey traditions that cause their society problems.

    Unlike first world nations, such as The United States or Germany or Japan… We all know those nations are perfect.

    ————

    #4 – One should never squander a chance to take a shot at Republicans. They are, after all, the dropped anchor on the ship of progress.

    ————

    #8 – Well, it’s sad that it has to come to this,

    What is sad is that they value males over females…

    Also sad is that the government is doing something that actually promotes an increase in the birth rate. We desperately need to curb population growth globally, and especially in places like India.

    The government is right to want to end a tradition that places greater value on one gender over another, but the right thing to do is increase the education about and access to birth control. (and of course, to make sure a woman’s rightful access to abortion on demand is never compromised)

  11. DaveW says:

    Based on India’s population numbers the only thing the government should be paying for is for not having any babies, regardless of gender.

    As for aborting female fetuses because you want a boy, well, it happens right here in the good old USA too!

  12. OmegaMan says:

    #10 Unlike first world nations, such as The United States or Germany or Japan… We all know those nations are perfect.

    Germany and Japan have negative population growth. The US has positive growth and that is only because we are more liberal in allowing people to immigrate. The more advanced (for lack of a better term) a society is, the less likelihood that its people generate large families.

    Traditions or not…its an interesting dilemma for nations in the future to have positive population growth…otherwise there will be a lot of ghost towns.

  13. MikeN says:

    >We desperately need to curb population growth globally, and especially in places like India.

    Liberal racism raises its head. Can’t have too many brown babies now can we?

  14. MikeN says:

    Having this type of population disparity is dangerous. China and India are countries with an ongoing border dispute, and now they have tens of millions of surplus men.

  15. Dallas says:

    #4 .. Oh Bob, lighten up. You can also call me Dallas instead of Sir.

    We are all one happy family in here meeting in Dvorak’s yard like, well, the breakfast club.

  16. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    #13 – >We desperately need to curb population growth globally, and especially in places like India.

    Liberal racism raises its head. Can’t have too many brown babies now can we?

    I’d be more than happy to sterilize whites and import excess brown babies if that makes you happy.

    It’s always fun when the traditionally racist ideology projects its own guilt on the liberals who are simply recognizing the math.

  17. Mister Catshit says:

    350+ years ago the French government was trying to increase the number of settlers in the new world. They instituted a bonus to women in order to have children. That tradition continues to this day in Canada where the government sends a check to mothers to help defray the cost of raising their brood.

    Although it has been a few years since I was last updated on this, I don’t think many Canadian women would like to see this tradition stopped.

  18. bobbo says:

    #18–Zirbert==you say: “If we’re going to “respect a woman’s right to choose”, then why should we care what the motive for any particular abortion is? /////// Because this is a pretty obvious example of the women not choosing?

    you say: ““population crisis” kool-aid” ///// by implication you think there is no population issue (if not crisis)for India, for the world?? Dolt.

    I dont understand about your post and the alter of Planned Parenthood. I am pro-abortion, and don’t actually care if India kills off a generation of women==but it IS sad that a society can have values so skewed that they discriminate so blantantly on the basis of sex.

    Revealing you react to words in isolation rather than the general point being made. Good job.


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