Female Selective Abortion While females in America are making great strides in gaining equality, females throughout various countries of Asia continue to be disregarded, abused, and in some occasion, aborted before birth. In fact, studies have shown that within the last two decades of the twentieth century, several million female fetuses have been aborted (Miller, 2001). Throughout these countries with high rates of Female-Selective Abortion, or FSA, one cultural similarity exists: they are all characterized as patriarchal. Among these Asian societies which are patriarchal in nature, males dominate practically all aspects of life, both public and private. Males there are seen to control the economy by having productive property, inheritance rights, and preferred employment. From a religious standpoint, these countries view males as a symbol of purity and power, while females are linked to negative notions such as impurity, danger, and a need to be controlled by males. Even culturally, males are more accepted because some of these countries, for instance China, have a preference of having a son as the first born. With so much value place upon males, many soon-to-be parents living in these countries are hopeful that their birth child will be a male. Many pregnant couples are doing whatever they can, and with the help of new technology, to ensure that they will not give birth to a female baby. In fact, evidence has shown a substantial increase in female-selective abortions since the 1980's in those countries already practicing the abortion of female fetuses. Throughout the course of time, these countries have seen an increase of female to male sex to birth ratios. The effects of modernization in patriarchal countries, which includes the economic growth and the advancement of technology, are major causes for the increase of female-selective abortions. Even though modernization has allowed these countries to economically develop, research has shown that the changes are "likely to lower of women's status relative to men's, either by undermining women's traditional roles and entitlements, by increasing men's entitlements relative to women's, or both" (Miller, 2001, p. 1087). In China, many of the families that have achieved greater economic growth during these times of economic reform are now concerned about property inheritance. Since patriarchal families tend to pass on their wealth to the son, males have become more favored in order to keep their possessions within the family. In parts of India, mainly where the families own properties, a system of "groomwealth" is practiced in which the bride's family provides large amounts of money and valuable goods to the family of the groom (Miller, 2001). Because of this practice, families in these areas view the birth of a daughter as financial disaster. In addition to a change in the economy, modernization has introduced many Asian countries to the new and innovative reproductive technologies that have made female-selective abortion an option that is now assessable to millions of people (Miller, 2001). One of the technological techniques used to determine the sex of a fetus is ultrasound. Although ultrasound has been primarily used throughout the world to monitor pregnancies, some countries have been taking advantage of the fact that this device reveals the sex of the baby before it is born. Thus, allowing the parent to decide whether to actually give birth to the baby or not. Another method is called amniocentesis. Amniocentesis is a medical procedure in which the doctor takes a small amount of sample fluid from the amniotic sac that surrounds the fetus. This process allows the doctors early detection of any genetic abnormalities as well as other information about the baby including the sex. As the technology of amniocentesis made its way throughout urbanized areas of Asia, so has the increase of female-selective abortions. Due to the preference of having sons in these countries, it is hard not to acknowledge the consequences that have derived from the unnatural performance of female-selective abortion. Because of the excess numbers of males in these societies, most of these men have difficulties finding marriage. Ongoing research is being conducted to study how the inability to marry can affect these males. Based on their findings, results show that it has made a negative impact on these men as they must face many difficulties throughout their lives. Some of the problems these men face include lower levels of self esteem, an inclination to depression, and a tendency to withdraw from others (Hesketh, Li, & Zu Wei, 2011). Researchers also hypothesized that because of the difficulties faced, these men are more susceptible to psychological difficulties and sexual frustrations, these feelings can eventually lead to aggression and violence (Hesketh et al., 2011). While the consequences of female-selective abortion continue to negatively affect the men in these countries, it may bring some positive affects to the limited amount of female that are still around. Researchers, Hesketh et al. (2011), believe that the shortage of females within these societies will help increase their value. It is also predicted that their social status should increase as well. As a result, this will benefit these women in other different ways such as improving their self-esteem and their mental health and well being. This improved status should also eventually bring about a reduction in son preference and we can hope to see a gradual decrease in sex-selective abortion among the later generations. Despite attempts of government interference, female selective abortion is an ongoing problem that has exists for many decades and still continues to this very day. In some countries, physicians will risk having their license suspended for performing fetal sex determination. In India, fines and prison terms will be given to both those who administer, as well as the women who undergo amniocentesis. However, arguments have been made denying its "seriousness", stating benefits such as population reduction, and saying that it represents free choice. Because it is so hard to regulate, this problem is something that is difficult to just stop as long as the preference for sons still exists. Even with more and more government intervention, this will continue to remain as an ongoing battle, and it is truly unfortunate that such occurrences still exists in our world today.

References
Miller, B. (2001). Female-selective abortion in asia: Patterns, policies, and debates. American Anthropologist,103(4), 1083-1095.
Hesketh, T., Li, L., & Zhu Wei, X. (2011). The consequences of son preference and sex-selective abortion in China and other Asian countries. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 183(12), 1374-1377. doi:10.1503/cmaj.101368