Editing Sex-selective abortion (section)

== Asia ==
The total numbers of "missing women" are about 11.9 million and 10.6 million in [[China]] and [[India]] respectively, out of 23 million world-wide, according to a 2019 study.<ref name="naturalratio"/> Given that the total number of recorded abortions is much lower than that, some dispute those numbers.

=== China ===
{{Further|Son preference in China|Missing women of China|Female infanticide in China|List of Chinese administrative divisions by gender ratio}}
[[File:G106-Dajipu-to-Daye-hills-0068.jpg|thumb|250px|A roadside slogan calls motorists to crack down on medically unnecessary antenatal sex identification and sex-selective pregnancy termination practices. ([[Daye, Hubei]], 2008)]]
[[File:PRC family planning don't abandon girls.jpg|thumb|250px|Roadside sign in Danshan Township, which reads "It is forbidden to discriminate against, abuse or abandon baby girls"]]
China, the most populous country in the world, has a serious problem with an unbalanced sex ratio population. A 2010 BBC article stated that the sex birth ratio was 119 boys born per 100 girls, which rose to 130 boys per 100 girls in some rural areas.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8451289.stm| title=China faces growing sex imbalance| date=January 11, 2010| access-date=December 15, 2017| archive-date=October 16, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016195046/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8451289.stm| url-status=live}}</ref> The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences estimated that more than 24 million Chinese men of marrying age could find themselves without spouses by 2020.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk"/> In 1979, China enacted the [[one-child policy]], which, within the country's deeply patriarchal culture, resulted in an unbalanced birth sex ratio. The one child policy was enforced throughout the years, including through [[forced abortion]]s and [[forced sterilization]]s, but gradually loosened until it was formally abolished in 2015.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34665539| title=China to end one-child policy| work=BBC News| date=October 29, 2015| access-date=June 20, 2018| archive-date=November 21, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121005729/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34665539| url-status=live}}</ref>

When sex ratio began being studied in China in 1960, it was still within the normal range. However, it climbed to 111.9 by 1990<ref name = "Junhong_2001" /> and to 118 by 2010 per its official census.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-08/16/c_131052436.htm | title = China's sex ratio declines for two straight years | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150222173509/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-08/16/c_131052436.htm | archive-date=February 22, 2015 | work = news.xinhuanet.com | location = Xinhua, China }}</ref><ref>{{cite report | vauthors = Kang C, Wang Y | title = Sex ratio at birth. | work = Theses collection of 2001 national family planning and reproductive health survey. | date = 2003 | pages = 88–98 }}</ref> Researchers believe that the causes of this sex ratio imbalance are increased female infant mortality, underreporting of female births and sex-selective abortion. According to Zeng et al. (1993), the most prominent cause is probably sex-selective abortion, but this is difficult to prove that in a country with little reliable birth data because of the hiding of "illegal" (under the One-Child Policy) births.<ref name=zengyi93>{{cite journal | vauthors = Yi Z, Ping T, Baochang G, Yi X, Bohua L, Yongpiing L | year = 1993 | title = Causes and implications of the recent increase in the reported sex ratio at birthin China | journal = Population and Development Review | volume = 19 | issue = 2| pages = 283–302 | doi=10.2307/2938438| jstor = 2938438 }}</ref>

These illegal births have led to underreporting of female infants. Zeng et al., using a reverse survival method, estimate that underreporting keeps about 2.26% male births and 5.94% female births off the books. Adjusting for unreported illegal births, they conclude that the corrected Chinese sex ratio at birth for 1989 was 111 rather than 115.<ref name=zengyi93 /> These national averages over time, mask the regional sex ratio data. For example, in 2005 [[Anhui]], [[Jiangxi]], [[Shaanxi]], [[Hunan]] and [[Guangdong]], had a sex ratio at birth of more than 130.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Branigan T | url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/02/chinas-great-gender-crisis | title = China's Great Gender Crisis | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230901175527/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/02/chinas-great-gender-crisis | archive-date=September 1, 2023 | work = The Guardian, UK | date = November 2, 2011 }}</ref><ref name=Hesketh />

Traditional Chinese techniques have been used to determine sex for hundreds of years, primarily with unknown accuracy. It was not until [[ultrasonography]] became widely available in urban and rural China that sex was able to be determined scientifically. In 1986, the Ministry of Health posted the Notice on Forbidding Prenatal Sex Determination, but it was not widely followed.<ref>Ministry of Health and State Family Planning Commission.1986. "Notice on strictly forbidding prenatal sex determination," reprinted in Peng Peiyun(ed.), 1997, Family Planning Encyclopedia of China. Beijing: China Population Press, p. 939.</ref> Three years later, the Ministry of Health outlawed the use of sex determination techniques, except for in diagnosing hereditary diseases.<ref>Ministry of Health. 1989. "Urgent notice on strictly forbidding the use of medical technology to perform prenatal sex determination," reprinted in Peng Peiyun (ed.), 1997, Family Planning Encyclopedia of China. Beijing: China Population Press, pp. 959–960.</ref> Individuals or clinics that violated the ban on prenatal determination at the request of the mother were subject to financial penalties, and the ban was repeatedly affirmed in the 1980s, early 1990s, and early 2000s.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Rodriguez SM |url= |title=Reproductive realities in modern China : birth control and abortion, 1911-2021 |date=2023 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-009-02733-5 |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |pages=191 |oclc=1366057905}}</ref> However, many people have personal connections to medical practitioners and strong [[son preference]] still dominates culture, leading to the widespread use of sex determination techniques.<ref name="Junhong_2001" />

Hardy, Gu, and Xie suggest sex-selective abortion is more prevalent in rural China because son preference is much stronger there.<ref name="Xie">Hardee, Karen, Gu Baochang, and Xie Zhenming. 2000. "Holding up more than half the sky:Fertility control and women's empowerment in China,"paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, March 23–25, Los Angeles.</ref> Urban areas of China, on average, are moving toward greater equality for both sexes, while rural China tends to follow more traditional views of gender. This is partially due to the belief that, while sons are always part of the family, daughters are only temporary, going to a new family when they marry. Additionally, if a woman's firstborn child is a son, her position in society moves up, while the same is not true of a firstborn daughter.<ref name="Junhong_2001" /> Families in China are aware of the critical lack of female children and its implication on marriage prospects in the future; many parents are beginning to work extra when their sons are young so that they will be able to pay for a bride for them.<ref name="Junhong_2001" />

[[File:Sex ratio at birth in mainland China.png|thumb|450px|Birth sex ratios have dramatically changed in China since the implementation of the [[One-Child Policy]].]]
In a 2005 study, Zhu, Lu, and Hesketh found that the highest sex ratio was for those ages 1–4, and two provinces, Tibet and Xinjiang, had sex ratios within normal limits. Two other provinces had a ratio over 140, four had ratios between 130 and 139, and seven had ratios between 120 and 129, each of which is significantly higher than the natural sex ratio.<ref name="Hesketh">{{cite journal | vauthors = Zhu WX, Lu L, Hesketh T | title = China's excess males, sex selective abortion, and one child policy: analysis of data from 2005 national intercensus survey | journal = BMJ | volume = 338 | issue = 7700 | pages = 920–923 | date = April 2009 | pmid = 19359290 | pmc = 2667570 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.b1211 | jstor = 20512658 }}</ref>

The birth sex ratio in China, according to a 2012 news report, has decreased to 117 males born for every 100 females.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.china.org.cn/video/2012-03/31/content_25036729.htm|title=China sees decrease in male-to-female birth ratio gap - China.org.cn|website=www.china.org.cn|access-date=October 23, 2019|archive-date=February 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218122734/http://www.china.org.cn/video/2012-03/31/content_25036729.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The sex ratio peaked in 2004 at around 121, and had declined to around 112 in 2017.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Somaia P, Islamiah Zahroh R, Bohren M |date=March 11, 2020|title=Where are all the missing girls?|url=https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/where-are-all-the-missing-girls|access-date=September 12, 2020|website=Pursuit|language=en|archive-date=February 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215134155/https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/where-are-all-the-missing-girls|url-status=live}}</ref> The ratio was forecast to drop below 112 by 2020 and 107 by 2030, according to the National Population Development Outline by the State Council.<ref>{{cite web|title=Report: Sex ratio to balance out by 2030 - China - Chinadaily.com.cn|url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-01/27/content_28064356.htm|access-date=September 12, 2020|website=www.chinadaily.com.cn|archive-date=February 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215134205/https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-01/27/content_28064356.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In December 2016, researchers at the [[University of Kansas]] reported that the missing women might be largely a result of administrative under-reporting and that delayed registration of females, instead of abortion and [[infanticide]] practices. The finding questioned the earlier assumptions that rural Chinese villagers aborted their daughters on a massive scale and concluded that as many as 10 to 15 million missing women hadn't received proper birth registration since 1982.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Steger I |url=https://qz.com/848715/its-a-myth-that-china-has-30-million-missing-girls-because-of-the-one-child-policy-a-new-study-says |title=It's a myth that China has 30 million "missing girls" because of the one-child policy, a new study says |work=Quartz |date=November 29, 2016 |access-date=April 29, 2023 |archive-date=April 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429225829/https://qz.com/848715/its-a-myth-that-china-has-30-million-missing-girls-because-of-the-one-child-policy-a-new-study-says |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/11/30/researchers-may-have-found-many-of-chinas-30-million-missing-girls/ |title=Researchers may have 'found' many of China's 30 million missing girls |newspaper=Washington Post |date=November 30, 2016 | vauthors = Denyer S |access-date=April 29, 2023 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729003039/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/11/30/researchers-may-have-found-many-of-chinas-30-million-missing-girls/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The reason for underreporting was attributed to families trying to avoid penalties when girls were born, and local government concealing the lack of enforcement from the central government. This implied that the sex disparity of the Chinese newborns was likely exaggerated significantly in previous analyses.<ref name="shi_kennedy">{{cite journal| vauthors = Shi Y, Kennedy JJ |date=December 2016|title=Delayed Registration and Identifying the "Missing Girls" in China|journal=The China Quarterly|volume=228|pages=1018–1038|doi=10.1017/S0305741016001132|issn=0305-7410|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="cnn_161201">{{cite web |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/01/asia/china-missing-girls/index.html |title=Study finds millions of China's 'missing girls' actually exist |website=CNN |date=December 1, 2016 | vauthors = Jozuka E |access-date=April 29, 2023 |archive-date=April 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402034411/http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/01/asia/china-missing-girls/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Zhuang P |title=China's 'missing women' theory likely overblown, researchers say |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2050444/chinas-missing-girls-theory-likely-be-overblown-study |website=South China Morning Post |date=November 30, 2016 |access-date=April 29, 2023 |archive-date=December 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215011815/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2050444/chinas-missing-girls-theory-likely-be-overblown-study |url-status=live }}</ref> Though the degree of data discrepancy, the challenge in relation to sex-ratio imbalance in China is still disputed among scholars.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/china-quarterly/article/abs/missing-girls-or-hidden-girls-a-comment-on-shi-and-kennedys-delayed-registration-and-identifying-the-missing-girls-in-china/61E21855F8A1D958660973841BBC46FD |title=Missing Girls or Hidden Girls? A Comment on Shi and Kennedy's "Delayed Registration and Identifying the 'Missing Girls' in China" |journal=The China Quarterly |issue=231 |date=2017 |pages=797–803 | vauthors = Cai Y |volume=231 |doi=10.1017/S0305741017001060 |s2cid=158924618 |access-date=April 29, 2023 |archive-date=April 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429232049/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/china-quarterly/article/abs/missing-girls-or-hidden-girls-a-comment-on-shi-and-kennedys-delayed-registration-and-identifying-the-missing-girls-in-china/61E21855F8A1D958660973841BBC46FD |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2017/01/chinas-missing-girls-along/ |title=Have China's Missing Girls Actually Been There All Along? |website=New Security Beat |date=January 9, 2017 | vauthors = den Boer A, M Hudson V |access-date=April 29, 2023 |archive-date=April 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429232050/https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2017/01/chinas-missing-girls-along/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== India ===
{{Further|Female foeticide in India}}
[[File:2011 Census sex ratio map for the states and Union Territories of India Boys to Girls 0 to 1 age group.svg|thumb|200px|left|A map of India's child sex ratio, 2011.]]

A research by [[Pew Research Center]] based on Union government data indicates foeticide of at least 9 million females in the years 2000–2019. The research found that 86.7% of these foeticides were by [[Hindus]] (80% of the population), followed by [[Sikhs]] (1.7% of the population) with 4.9%, and [[Muslims]] (14% of the population) with 6.6%. The research also indicated an overall decline in preference for sons in the time period.<ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Kaur B |title=Foeticide: More 'Missing' Girls Among Hindus Than Muslims in Last Two Decades, Official Data Shows |url=https://thewire.in/women/india-missing-girls-sex-ratio-infanticide-pew-analysis |access-date=September 6, 2022 |work=[[The Wire (India)|The Wire]] |date=September 6, 2022 |archive-date=September 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220906121635/https://thewire.in/women/india-missing-girls-sex-ratio-infanticide-pew-analysis |url-status=live }}</ref>

India's 2001 census revealed a national 0–6 age child sex ratio of 108, which increased to 109 according to 2011 census (927 girls per 1000 boys and 919 girls per 1000 boys respectively, compared to expected normal ratio of 943 girls per 1000 boys).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sex-ratio-worsens-in-small-families-improves-with-3-or-more-children/articleshow/50989227.cms|title=Sex ratio worsens in small families, improves with 3 or more children|website=[[The Times of India]]|date=February 15, 2016|access-date=May 14, 2018|archive-date=December 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225051046/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sex-ratio-worsens-in-small-families-improves-with-3-or-more-children/articleshow/50989227.cms|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.census2011.co.in/p/glance.php | title = India at Glance – Population Census 2011 – Final | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140108025228/http://www.census2011.co.in/p/glance.php | archive-date=January 8, 2014 | work = Census of India, Government of India | date = 2013 }}</ref> The national average masks the variations in regional numbers according to 2011 census—Haryana's ratio was 120, Punjab's ratio was 118, Jammu & Kashmir was 116, and Gujarat's ratio was 111.<ref name=cc2011>{{cite web | url = http://www.actionaidusa.org/sites/files/actionaid/child_sex_ratio_-_presentation_by_census_commissioner.pdf | title = Child Sex Ratio in India | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131203181227/http://www.actionaidusa.org/sites/files/actionaid/child_sex_ratio_-_presentation_by_census_commissioner.pdf | archive-date=December 3, 2013 | vauthors = Chandramouli C | quote = Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India | date = 2011 }}</ref> The 2011 Census found eastern states of India had birth sex ratios between 103 and 104, lower than normal.<ref name=tec2011>{{cite web | url = http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-03-31/news/29365989_1_ratio-males-girl-child | title = Census of India 2011: Child sex ratio drops to lowest since Independence | archive-url = https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120718173236/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-03-31/news/29365989_1_ratio-males-girl-child | archive-date = July 18, 2012 | work =  The Economic Times, India }}</ref> In contrast to decadal nationwide census data, small non-random sample surveys report higher child sex ratios in India.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://india.unfpa.org/drive/SRBBooklet.pdf | title = Trends in Sex Ratio at Birth and Estimates of Girls Missing at Birth in India | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121021182934/http://india.unfpa.org/drive/SRBBooklet.pdf | archive-date=October 21, 2012 | work = UNFPA | date = July 2010 }}</ref>

The child sex ratio in India shows a regional pattern. India's 2011 census found that all eastern and southern states of India had a child sex ratio between 103 and 107,<ref name=cc2011 /> typically considered as the "natural ratio." The highest sex ratios were observed in India's northern and northwestern states – [[Haryana]] (120), [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] (118) and [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu & Kashmir]] (116).<ref name=ci20012011>{{cite web | url = http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/india/s13_sex_ratio.pdf | title = Child Sex Ratio 2001 versus 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140928131054/http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/india/s13_sex_ratio.pdf | archive-date=September 28, 2014 | work = Census of India | publisher = Government of India | date = 2013 }}</ref> The western states of Maharashtra and Rajasthan 2011 census found a child sex ratio of 113, Gujarat at 112 and Uttar Pradesh at 111.<ref name=ci20012011 />

The Indian census data suggests there is a positive correlation between abnormal sex ratio and better socio-economic status and literacy. Urban India has higher child sex ratio than rural India according to 1991, 2001 and 2011 Census data, implying higher prevalence of sex selective abortion in urban India. Similarly, child sex ratio greater than 115 boys per 100 girls is found in regions where the predominant majority is Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian; furthermore "normal" child sex ratio of 104 to 106 boys per 100 girls are also found in regions where the predominant majority is Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian. These data contradict any hypotheses that may suggest that sex selection is an archaic practice which takes place among uneducated, poor sections or particular religion of the Indian society.<ref name=cc2011 /><ref name=wbhindia />

[[File:India Male to Female Sex Ratio 1941 1951 1961 1981 1991 2001 2011.png|thumb|250px|The male to female sex ratio for India, based on its official census data from 1941 through to 2011. The data suggests the existence of high sex ratios before and after the arrival of ultrasound-based prenatal care and sex screening technologies in India.]]
[[File:6th Earl of Mayo.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo]], who was [[Governor-General of India]] at the time of the [[Female Infanticide Prevention Act, 1870]].]]

Rutherford and Roy, in their 2003 paper, suggest that techniques for determining sex prenatally that were pioneered in the 1970s, gained popularity in India.<ref>{{cite report | vauthors = Retherford RD, Roy TK |title=Factors affecting sex-selective abortion in India and 17 major states |date=2003 |hdl=10125/3488 | work = National Family Health Survey Subject Reports | volume = 21 | publisher = International Institute for Population Sciences, East-West Center Program on Population | location = Mumbai, India Honolulu, Hawaii, USA }}</ref> These techniques, claim Rutherford and Roy, became broadly available in 17 of 29 Indian states by the early 2000s. Such prenatal sex determination techniques, claim Sudha and Rajan in a 1999 report, where available, favored male births.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sudha S, Irudaya RS | title = Female demographic disadvantage in India 1981-1991: sex selective abortions and female infanticide | journal = Development and Change | volume = 30 | issue = 3 | pages = 585–618 | date = July 1999 | pmid = 20162850 | doi = 10.1111/1467-7660.00130 | s2cid = 33446683 }}</ref>

Arnold, Kishor, and Roy, in their 2002 paper, too hypothesize that modern fetal sex screening techniques have skewed child sex ratios in India.<ref name=Arnold>{{cite journal | vauthors = Arnold F, Kishor S, Roy TK | year = 2002 | title = Sex-Selective Abortions in India | journal = Population and Development Review | volume = 28 | issue = 4| pages = 759–785 | doi = 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2002.00759.x }}</ref> Ganatra et al., in their 2000 paper, use a small survey sample to estimate that {{frac|1|6}} of reported abortions followed a sex determination test.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Ganatra BR | date = 2000 | chapter = Abortion research in India: What we know, and what we need to know | veditors = Ramasubban R, Jejeebhoy SJ | title = Women's Reproductive Health in India. | location = New Delhi | publisher = Rawat Publications }}</ref>

The Indian government and various advocacy groups have continued the debate and discussion about ways to prevent sex selection. The immorality of prenatal sex selection has been questioned, with some arguments in favor of prenatal discrimination as more humane than postnatal discrimination by a family that does not want a female child. Others question whether the morality of sex selective abortion is any different over morality of abortion when there is no risk to the mother nor to the fetus, and abortion is used as a means to end an unwanted pregnancy.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kumar D | year = 1983 | title = Male utopias or nightmares? | journal = Economic and Political Weekly | volume = 13 | issue = 3| pages = 61–64 | jstor = 4371751 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gangoli G | year = 1998 | title = Reproduction, abortion and women's health | journal = Social Scientist | volume = 26 | issue = 11–12| pages = 83–105 | doi=10.2307/3517661 | jstor = 3517661 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Goodkind D | year = 1996 | title = On substituting sex preference strategies in East Asia: Does pre-natal sex selection reduce post natal discrimination? | journal = Population and Development Review | volume = 22 | issue = 1| pages = 111–125 | doi=10.2307/2137689 | jstor = 2137689 }}</ref>

India passed its first abortion-related law, the so-called Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971, making abortion legal in most states, but specified legally acceptable reasons for abortion such as medical risk to mother and rape. The law also established physicians who can legally provide the procedure and the facilities where abortions can be performed, but did not anticipate sex selective abortion based on technology advances.<ref>{{cite web |title=Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 – Introduction |work=Med India |date=October 20, 2013 |url=https://www.medindia.net/indian_health_act/the-medical-termination-of-pregnancy-act-1971-introduction.htm |access-date=December 26, 2018 |archive-date=April 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410020324/https://www.medindia.net/indian_health_act/the-medical-termination-of-pregnancy-act-1971-introduction.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

With increasing availability of sex screening technologies in India through the 1980s in urban India, and claims of its misuse, the Government of India passed the [[Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994|Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PNDT)]] in 1994. This law was further amended into the Pre-Conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) (PCPNDT) Act in 2004 to deter and punish prenatal sex screening and sex selective abortion. The impact of the law and its enforcement is unclear. However, research shows that there was about a 0.7%-1% increase in female births after the PNDT Act was passed in 1994. Unfortunately, this data was not significant.<ref name="Nandi_2015">{{cite journal | vauthors = Nandi A |date=October 2, 2015 |title=The Unintended Effects of a Ban on Sex-Selective Abortion on Infant Mortality: Evidence from India |journal=Oxford Development Studies |language=en |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=466–482 |doi=10.1080/13600818.2014.973390 |s2cid=154284754 |issn=1360-0818  }}</ref> [[United Nations Population Fund]] and India's National Human Rights Commission, in 2009, asked the Government of India to assess the impact of the law. The Public Health Foundation of India, an activist NGO in its 2010 report, claimed a lack of awareness about the Act in parts of India, inactive role of the Appropriate Authorities, ambiguity among some clinics that offer prenatal care services, and the role of a few medical practitioners in disregarding the law.<ref name=wbhindia /> At the start of passing this act, women were still able to travel across borders to continue having sex-selective abortions. This was until the national PNDT was passed in 1996.<ref name="Nandi_2015" />

The [[Ministry of Health and Family Welfare]] of India has targeted education and media advertisements to reach clinics and medical professionals to increase awareness. The Indian Medical Association has undertaken efforts to prevent prenatal sex selection by giving its members ''Beti Bachao'' (save the daughter) badges during its meetings and conferences.<ref name=wbhindia />

In November 2007, MacPherson estimated that 100,000 abortions every year continue to be performed in India solely because the fetus is female.<ref name=macpherson /> Women may further be subject to violence for birthing daughters over sons. In 2016, [[Murder of Anu Bansal|Anu Bansal]] was murdered by her husband after giving birth to another daughter. She was burned to death.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-07-29 |title=Bulandshahr: India girls who wrote letter with blood get justice |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-62344788 |access-date=2025-04-22 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

===Pakistan===
{{Main|Female infanticide in Pakistan}}
[[File:Pakistan (orthographic projection).svg|thumb|[[Pakistan]] has a tradition of sex selection. Similarly with India, the tradition of [[dowry]] plays role.]]
For Pakistan, the United Nations Population Fund, in its 2012 report estimates the Pakistan birth sex ratio to be 110. In the urban regions, particularly its densely populated region of Punjab, report a sex ratio above 112 (less than 900 females per 1000 males).<ref>N Purewal (2010), "Son Preference, Sex Selection, Gender and Culture in South Asia", Oxford International Publishers / Berg, {{ISBN|978-1-84520-468-6}}, page 38</ref> Hudson and Den Boer estimate the resulting deficit to be about 6 million missing girls in Pakistan than what would normally be expected.<ref name=hudsonboer /> 

In 2017, two Pakistani organisations discovered large cases of infanticide in Pakistani cities. This was led by the Edhi Foundation and Chhipa Welfare Foundation. The infanticide victims were almost all were female infants. The reason given by the local authorities were poverty and local customs, where boys are preferred to girls. However, the large discovery in Karachi shows that many of the female infants were killed because of the local clerics, who ordered that out-of-wedlock babies should be disregarded. This is due to the fact that fornication is a major sin in Islam, although it is also ''[[haram]]'' (forbidden) to kill an innocent soul, which babies and children fall under.<ref name="thenews.com.pk">{{cite web | url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/309162-karachi-becoming-a-killing-field-for-newborn-girls | title=Karachi becoming a killing field for newborn girls | access-date=May 8, 2020 | archive-date=February 17, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217224111/https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/309162-karachi-becoming-a-killing-field-for-newborn-girls | url-status=live }}</ref> In fact, [[Muhammad]] explicitly banned the killing of female infants, as it was a custom in [[Pre-Islamic Arabia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tasgheer |first1=Aqsa |last2=Ishfaq |first2=Muhammad |date=October 17, 2021 |title=Female Infanticide in Pre-Islamic Arab Society: A Quranic and Historical Perspective |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361885912 |journal=Al-Qawarir |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=6 |via=ResearchGate}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|From January 2017 to April 2018, Edhi Center foundation and Chhipa Welfare organisation have found 345 such new born babies dumped in garbage in Karachi only and 99 percent of them were girls.

"We have been dealing with such cases for years and there are a few such incidents which shook our souls as much. It left us wondering whether our society is heading back to primitive age," Anwar Kazmi, a senior manager in Edhi Foundation Karachi, told The News.

Edhi Foundation has found 355 such dead infants from the garbage dumps across the country in 2017; 99 percent of them were identified girls. And Karachi has topped in this notorious ranking with 180 cases in 2017. As many as 72 dead girls have been buried in the first four months of this year by Edhi Foundation alone in the metropolitan city. The given data is just tip of the iceberg as Edhi foundation maintains the data of those cities where it provides services.<ref name="thenews.com.pk"/>}}

=== South Korea ===
{{Further|Sex-selective abortion in South Korea}}

Sex-selective abortion gained popularity in the mid-1980s to early 1990s in '''[[South Korea]]''', where selective female abortions were commonplace as male children were preferred. Historically, much of Korea's values and traditions were based on Confucianism that dictated the patriarchal system,<ref name="Chun_2009">{{cite journal | vauthors = Chun H, Das Gupta M |title=Gender discrimination in sex selective abortions and its transition in South Korea |journal=Women's Studies International Forum |date=March 2009 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=89–97 |doi=10.1016/j.wsif.2009.03.008 }}</ref> motivating the heavy preference for sons. Additionally, even though the abortion ban existed, the combination of son preference and availability of sex-selective technology led to an increasing number of sex-selective abortions and boys born.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lee J, Smith JP | title = Fertility behaviors in South Korea and their association with ultrasound prenatal sex screening | journal = SSM - Population Health | volume = 4 | pages = 10–16 | date = April 2018 | pmid = 29349269 | pmc = 5769124 | doi = 10.1016/j.ssmph.2017.10.003 }}</ref> As a result, South Korea experienced drastically high sex ratios around mid-1980s to early 1990s.<ref name="Chun_2009" /> However, in recent years, with the changes in family policies and modernization, attitudes towards son preference have changed, normalizing the sex ratio and lowering the number of sex-selective abortions.<ref name="Chun_2009" /> With that being said, there has been no explicit data on the number of induced sex selective abortions reportedly performed due to the abortion ban and controversy surrounding the topic. Therefore, scholars have been continuously analyzing and generating connections among sex-selection, abortion policies, gender discrimination, and other cultural factors.

===Other Asian countries===
Other countries with large populations but high sex ratios include [[Vietnam]]. The United Nations Population Fund, in its 2012 report,<ref>{{cite book | url = http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/publications/2012/Sex%20Imbalances%20at%20Birth.%20PDF%20UNFPA%20APRO%20publication%202012.pdf | title = Sex Imbalances at Birth: Current trends, consequences and policy implications | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131230232549/http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/publications/2012/Sex%20Imbalances%20at%20Birth.%20PDF%20UNFPA%20APRO%20publication%202012.pdf | archive-date=December 30, 2013 | publisher = UNFPA | isbn = 978-974680-3380 | page = 20 }}</ref> claims the birth sex ratio of Vietnam at 111 with its densely populated [[Red River Delta]] region at 116.

[[Taiwan]] has reported a sex ratio at birth between 1.07 and 1.11 every year, across 4 million births, over the 20-year period from 1991 to 2011, with the highest birth sex ratios in the 2000s.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lee IW, Lai YC, Kuo PL, Chang CM | title = Human sex ratio at amniocentesis and at birth in Taiwan | journal = Taiwanese Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology | volume = 51 | issue = 4 | pages = 572–575 | date = December 2012 | pmid = 23276560 | doi = 10.1016/j.tjog.2012.09.012 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Sex-selective abortion is reported to be common in [[South Korea]] too, but its incidence has declined in recent years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/regional_analysis.pdf|title=Sex-ratio imbalance in Asia: Trends, consequences and policy responses|access-date=October 23, 2019|archive-date=January 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117194644/https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/regional_analysis.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The consequences of son preference"/><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Vogel L | title = Sex-selective abortions: no simple solution | journal = CMAJ | volume = 184 | issue = 3 | pages = 286–288 | date = February 2012 | pmid = 22271910 | pmc = 3281151 | doi = 10.1503/cmaj.109-4097 }}</ref> As of 2015, South Korea's sex ratio at birth was 1.07 male/female.<ref name="cia.gov">{{cite web | url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2018.html | title=The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency | access-date=May 17, 2016 | archive-date=October 16, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016065003/https://www.cia.gov/library//publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2018.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2015, [[Hong Kong]] had a sex ratio at birth of 1.12 male/female.<ref name="cia.gov" /> A 2001 study on births in the late 1990s concluded that "sex selection or sex-selective abortion might be practiced among Hong Kong Chinese women".<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Wong SF, Ho LC | title = Sex selection in practice among Hong Kong Chinese | journal = Social Science & Medicine | volume = 53 | issue = 3 | pages = 393–397 | date = August 2001 | pmid = 11439822 | doi = 10.1016/s0277-9536(00)00306-3 }}</ref>

Recently, a rise in the sex ratio at birth has been noted in some parts of [[Nepal]], most notably in the [[Kathmandu Valley]], but also in districts such as [[Kaski District|Kaski]].<ref name=pmid23674444>{{cite journal | vauthors = Frost MD, Puri M, Hinde PR | title = Falling sex ratios and emerging evidence of sex-selective abortion in Nepal: evidence from nationally representative survey data | journal = BMJ Open | volume = 3 | issue = 5 | pages = e002612 | date = May 2013 | pmid = 23674444 | pmc = 3657664 | doi = 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002612 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ageing.ox.ac.uk/blog/2016-Gender-Inequality-Nepal-BLOG|title=Gender inequality in Nepal: How can we tackle sex-selective abortion?|newspaper=Oxford Institute of Population Ageing|access-date=November 2, 2016|archive-date=September 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915085341/https://www.ageing.ox.ac.uk/blog/2016-Gender-Inequality-Nepal-BLOG|url-status=dead}}</ref> High sex ratios at birth are most notable amongst richer, more educated sections of the population in urban areas.<ref name=pmid23674444/>