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Asia

Indian prime minister denounces abortion of females

April 29, 2008
Amelia Gentleman, New York Times

The Indian prime minister described the widespread practice of aborting female fetuses as a “national shame” on Monday, and called for stricter enforcement of laws devised to prevent doctors from helping parents to avoid the birth of unwanted daughters.

In his first speech on the subject, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh highlighted an “alarming” decline in the number of girls for every 1,000 boys in India, slipping to 927 in 2001 from 962 in 1981, according to the latest census figures. “This indicates that growing economic prosperity and education levels have not led to a corresponding mitigation in this acute problem,” he said.

“No nation, no society, no community can hold its head high and claim to be part of the civilized world if it condones the practice of discriminating against one half of humanity represented by women,” Mr. Singh said, giving an inaugural speech at a national conference dedicating to “saving the girl child,” which brought together politicians, doctors and advocates.

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