Gender-selective abortions in Australia on the rise among Indian and Chinese communities & More Trending News – UP Jobs News

Australian couples may be aborting pregnancies after finding out they are having a girl, alarming data has revealed. 

The world average is between 102 and 106 males for every 100 females born, meaning the national average of 105.2 in 2020 – the most recent data set available – is normal.

But for Indian and Chinese communities in Australia, the numbers are as high as 108.2 and 109.5 respectively, something experts say could indicate gender-selective abortions.

For first generation migrants from those communities who already have several children, the figures are as high as 125 boys for every 100 girls. 

Advocates are now calling out for a ‘missing girls’ culture, rife in other nations, to be stopped, with taxpayers unknowingly forking out for these ‘sexist’ abortions.

One Melbourne GP even revealed to Daily Mail Australia how he told a couple to get ‘into the 21st century’ after they revealed they may seek an abortion if an ultrasound revealed they were having a girl.

Wendy Francis from the Australian Christian Lobby said: ‘There is a trend in the country for more girls to be aborted than boys.

‘It isn’t prevalent, but it is growing and particularly in some ethnic communities.’

Her comments come as Australia’s women’s ministers met in Adelaide on Friday to discuss streamlining abortion legislation and changes to Medicare.

The meeting, hosted by Federal Minister for Women Katy Gallagher, aims to examine a national approach to abortion laws.

It comes on the back of the controversial decision made in the US Supreme Court, which ruled women in America don’t have a constitutional right to an abortion – leading to many states aiming to outlaw it entirely – including Texas, Utah, Mississippi to name a few.

The Christian Lobby has called for a change to the taxpayer-funded abortions happening through Medicare. 

‘One of the policies that needs to be changed in order to pursue equality, [is that] Medicare should not be funding sex-selection abortions – that is not something that passes the pub test for Australians or advances women’s rights,’ Ms Francis said.  

She said taxpayers pick up the tab for about 90,000 abortions each year through Medicare and would be paying for the rising numbers of gender-selected terminations. 

‘Now that the Australian ministers for women are talking about abortion laws and Medicare, this is one of the aspects they really need to look at,’ Ms Francis said. 

‘This is something we can get on the front foot on and make sure it doesn’t happen in Australia.’ 

There have been unusual variations in Australian birth rates, according to the latest available data, particularly among Indian and Chinese migrants.

The UN said when the numbers are higher than their standard, it suggests sex selection is taking place.

A 2018 Latrobe University study noted a cultural preference for sons within ethnic groups had led to a trend of more boys being born than girls in Victoria. 

Lead researcher Dr Kristina Edvardsson said at the time the ‘skew’ towards boys shows that pre-natal gender selection was being carried out by migrants from countries where these practices are well documented. 

‘Our research revealed a higher than expected proportion of male births to mothers born in India, China and South-East Asia,’ Dr Edvardsson said at the time.

‘When comparing registered births of all first-generation migrants to registered births of Australian-born mothers, we found the number of male births among Indian and Chinese-born mothers was highest,’ Dr Edvardsson said. 

‘[Over a five-year period] 122 and 125 boys were born to every 100 girls, respectively if the mother had two or more previous births.’

Melbourne GP Dr Gurdip Aurora told Daily Mail Australia he recently saw an Indian couple who approached him seeking an ultrasound to determine the baby’s gender in 2018. 

The couple already had three daughters and told him if the next baby was a girl, they would have to make a decision about terminating her.

‘They said “we have three girls and we don’t want a fourth girl” and I said “we’re in the 21st century … please don’t go to [another GP] because they will laugh at you”.’

Dr Aurora said the woman was two months pregnant and the couple returned to him after eight months for another medical issue.

He asked about the baby and she said she had a miscarriage in India. 

‘I knew exactly what was happening, they went to India and had an abortion,’ Dr Aurora said.

He added he has not had any similar requests since and didn’t think there was a major gender-selective issue in the Indian community.

But he said the problem was common in India and parts of the Arab world.

‘There is a gender inequality, there are more males than females so they can’t find ladies to marry,’ he added.

An estimated two million girls go missing each year in India, the Indian government has said. 

‘There are several contributing factors, including sex-selective abortion and neglect of and discrimination towards girl children,’ a Missing Girls of India report said in 2021.

In some cases girls are killed soon after birth – a practice that has been going on for centuries, the report said.

One Victorian doctor was under investigation by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency in 2013 for refusing to help a couple get an abortion at 19 weeks.

Dr Mark Hobart was threatened with deregistration after he turned down Indian parents who wanted to terminate a healthy baby girl because of her gender, the Herald Sun said.

Meanwhile, RMIT University Senior Lecturer Dr Caroline Norma told Daily Mail Australia there were more pressing issues with abortions.

‘Bigger problems of how abortion features as part of domestic violence, incest, and prostitution need to be investigated,’ Dr Norma said. 

‘These other problems are likely more widespread and affecting the Australian population as a whole.

‘I think the problem lies with the Australian medical system that offers ultrasound with disclosure of foetus sex.

‘Such disclosures should be banned – not just for people in communities more likely to want sex-selective abortions – but for everyone.

‘Just as free and easily available should be residential facilities for mothers and babies, so that young women can realistically go through with a pregnancy if they want to,’ she added. 

Ms Francis said women facing unwanted or unexpected pregnancies need more support in getting advice and financial help.

‘What we need to do is that women [should] have full options before they feel like their only option is abortion,’ Ms Francis said. 

‘Sometimes aborting the baby is not the answer the woman actually wants – but it’s the only answer we give.’

She suggested government-funded pregnancy centres, where women can get financial support, advice and help in domestic violence cases. 

‘At the moment there is nothing like that, there are charities and community groups set up but we don’t have government-funded areas where they can go.’ 

She said a lot of the time women find themselves pregnant and alone and they need somebody to walk with them on that journey. 

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler was contacted by Daily Mail Australia for comment.

The procedure is legal in all states and territories but they have different rules on how, when and where it can be accessed – with the agenda looking into streamlining and protecting women’s abortion rights. 

The latest an abortion can be carried out depends on where you live, with the ACT allowing a woman to have an abortion at any stage of the pregnancy. 

The gender of a baby can be revealed via blood tests in Australia at ten weeks, with most abortions being carried out in the first 12 weeks after conception. 

Women can get an ultrasound done of their babies between 18 and 20 weeks to also determine sex.

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