Is sex ratio at birth an appropriate measure of prenatal sex selection? Findings of a theoretical model and its application to India.

Son preference and prenatal sex selection against females have resulted in significant sex ratio at birth (SRB) imbalances well documented in several Asian countries, including India and China. The SRB bias is generally used as indicator for the extent and trends of prenatal sex selection against females. Decreasing fertility levels are expected to increase sex selection and thus SRB bias, since desiring fewer children increases the risk for families to remain sonless (fertility squeeze effect).

Re-visioning evidence: Reflections on the recent controversy around gender selective abortion in the UK.

Reports in the British media over the last 4 years have highlighted the schisms and contestations that have accompanied the reports of gender selective abortions amongst British Asian families. The position that sex-selection may be within the terms of the 1967 Abortion Act has particularly sparked controversy amongst abortion campaigners and politicians but equally among medical practitioners and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service who have hitherto tended to stay clear of such debates. In what ways has the controversy around gender-based abortion led to new framings of the entitlement to service provision and new ways of thinking about evidence in the context of reproductive rights? We reflect on these issues drawing on critiques of what constitutes best evidence, contested notions of reproductive rights and reproductive governance, comparative work in India and China as well as our involvement with different groups of campaigners including British South Asian NGOs.