Abortion due to the sex of fetus

[fatagainkathsigh]

I'm a lurker in the feminist section and rarely post at all on mumsnet, though I lurk every day!
I just wondered what the feminist stance on this story is:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17136213

Surely a woman's right to choose, no one's business why a woman should terminate a pregnancy.

If for example a woman had three boys and was desperate for a girl, wouldn't it be okay to terminate if the fetus was male? Surely it's part of a woman's body and is just a bundle of cells until 24 weeks????? Why the outrage?????

Would love to hear all of your views, from a feminist perspective.

I'm putting 24 weeks in because a woman can terminate a healthy fetus up to 24 weeks gestation.

The people who are hypocritical are those people who think it's a woman's right to choose, up to the abortion limit but believe that abortion for reason of gender is somehow wrong.

I presume the mention of 24 weeks is because in the UK that's the legal cut-off point for abortion for non-medical reasons?

Cross-post with OP.

lollygag femicide. Including babies being killed at birth or girls left with illnesses untreated / hungry.

princess the OP is saying that if people are always in favour of the woman's right to choose then they are hypocrites if they are against abortion because of sex. However the 24 weeks is a random cut-off and logically if women are to have the right to choose then that extends throughout pregnancy.

So I don't understand why the OP is saying BOO you horrid feminists you want people to be able to abort on grounds of sex if you say you don't then you're hypocrites - while leaving in the 24 weeks. It doesn't make sense her post is illogical.

There's a difference between not thinking it's okay, and saying women should not have the right to do it. Not hypocritical at all. I don't think it's okay, I don't understand it, but abortion is legal, as it should be, and at the end of the day it's not my business or decision.

I think in real life most people have their own views about when abortion is OK and when it isn't and it has little to do with logic and is a very emotive topic.

Aborting due to sex is illegal in the UK and that is fine by me.

The OP trying to "catch people out" has irritated me.

SGW: It is depressing because there is going to be a woman who wants the 'choice' of making that number one hundred million and one.

Sardine I genuinely don't understand your post or arguments. 24 weeks is not a random cut off point it's to do with viability.

Legally you can abort for non medical and medical grounds up to 24 weeks. Why does it matter if the reason is gender.

Exactly Miss Coffee. Sardine I'm not trying to catch anyone out. Either it's okay to abort up to 24 weeks or it's not. It's no one elses business why.

I'll say what I've said on the other thread, because I think it's important, that if abortion on gender grounds is illegal then it becomes the woman's fault if she chooses to give birth to a baby of the "wrong" sex - which will lead to a large number of women being pressured into late abortions that they would not choose.

If there were no wide-spread intense cultural pressure for one gender then I'd probably support decriminalisation (I'd still judge anyone who had a late abortion on gender grounds like crazy, (or judge a family who'd pressured them into it) but that's not the point).

Damn - first sentence should read "if abortion on gender grounds is legal"

fat your post makes the point that either a woman has a right to choose or she doesn't.

The argument for allowing abortion on the grounds of sex is the same as the argument for allowing abortion at any point during pregnancy. Either a woman has total say over what happens to her body or she doesn't.

That is what I mean.

Abortion is legal in the UK up to term in the case of certain types of disability.

I think it's horrendous! I don't think people should abort just coz they can't be bothered with a baby.
Medical/mental health of mum aside, if people don't want kids, contraception is free. Obviously accidents happen, and in that case I agree it's a woman's choice if she really feels unable to look after a child, to abort. But to then say oh ok I'm pregnant, but I'm only having it if it's a girl coz I like pink?! If that becomes ok, when does if start being ok to abort babies who arent blonde with blue eyes. Hitler would have loved to have been around today I bet...

None of these things are striaghtforward.

Our society says that

• abortion is allowed if the health of the mother is at risk, it needs to be signed off by 2 doctors
• up to 24 weeks
• unless there is a disability in which case abortion until term is legal
• abortion on the grounds of sex is illegal

In NI abortion is generally not legal.

I don't think society should condone terminating for this reason. I really don't. I don't think doctors should allow it.

I think of myself as a pro choice feminist but I can't just shrug my shoulders and say it's a woman's right in this instance.

Surely we have a wider responsibility to society not to promote these values - that a baby girl is worth less than a baby boy?

fata;They think you are trying to catch them out because you have made a logical point.That's why a major news story like this gained no attention on these threads until you posted.

In a totally equal society, where there was no racism, sexism, anything ism, everyone had plenty of money and males and females were valued equally throughout the world, maybe it would be a different answer.

We don't live in that world though so it needs to be illegal.

There's a flourishing alternative thread lollygag - it just has a bland name. And it's not a major story - it's one clinic caught doing something illegal.

lolly it is the OP who is not being logical.

She is telling people that if they say abortion is a woman's choice then they must agree with abortion for any reason whatsoever including sex. However she still leaves in the 24 week cut-off which would be removed by her logic.

This post gives it away

"The people who are hypocritical are those people who think it's a woman's right to choose, up to the abortion limit but believe that abortion for reason of gender is somehow wrong."

Of course she is trying to catch people out. She is assuming that feminists will blanche at the idea of terminating female foetuses and thinks it is a great opportunity to shout "hypocrites".

Annoying.

I have posted on at least one other thread on this story today.

Dilys: Thanks will check it out.

The argument for allowing abortion on the grounds of sex is the same as the argument for allowing abortion at any point during pregnancy. Either a woman has total say over what happens to her body or she doesn't.

That is what I mean.

No it's not
You can abort up to 24 weeks because you don't want a baby or you can't afford a baby. You can't abort at 30weeks because you don't want/ can't afford a baby. Why can't you abort up to 24 weeks because you don't want that particular gender of baby?

Maybe we'll have to agree to differ. I have to look after my DCs.

off to break up scraps and put scruffy monsters in bath