A Woman's Right to Choose
Update: Law proposal will ban gender-based abortion
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Swedish health authorities have ruled that gender-based abortion is not illegal according to current law and can not therefore be stopped, according to a report by Sveriges Television.
The Local reported in February that a woman from Eskilstuna in southern Sweden had twice had abortions after finding out the gender of the child.
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Swedish law is based on modern Western norms, giving the woman full control of her body. However, though this might seem like an extension of the pro-life vs. pro-choice debate, this is something completely different. The reason the Swedish health authorities had to check whether aborting a fetus due to its sex is legal is because there have been several such cases recently. And these cases are not based on some capricious whim by a certain woman who wants a baby of a certain gender. It's based on a culture where a boy is worth far more than a girl.
These women are not coming only from Sweden. In Norway such abortions are illegal and therefore, women who are being pressured to have boys, go to Sweden.
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In a previous case, a man was sentenced to a fine of 4,000 Swedish kroner for threatening to put a pistol to a doctor's head if she didn't tell him the fetus' sex, according to Svenska Dagbladet
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Midwife Sara Kahsay says the practice is probably more common among cultures where it's especially important to have baby boys. She says it's not uncommon for her to get calls from women who want to know the sex of their fetus very early on.
"There is no doubt that some them experience enormous pressure to have baby boys," she told VG.
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Do these women really have a choice? The Swedish system is trying to empower women to decide on their own, but in this case, they're empowering the husbands to force the women to have boys. The system is trying to have full equality between boys and girls, but in this case, it allows for boys to live, and girls to die.
A woman's choice is only a valid reason as long as it's really a choice. In recent years Europe has seen this very debate on the topic of hijab. Muslim women who want to wear the hijab say it's their choice, and they're right. But there are many Muslim women for whom wearing a hijab is not a choice, and these women need the protection of the law as well.
The Swedish health authorities will have to find a way to maneuver between a woman's right to choose to abort an unwanted pregnancy, and a woman's right to choose to continue an unwanted pregnancy, or a pregnancy that is unwanted by certain members of her family. As the law is today, it assumes the latter is never a problem.
Update: Law proposal will ban gender-based abortion
----------
Swedish health authorities have ruled that gender-based abortion is not illegal according to current law and can not therefore be stopped, according to a report by Sveriges Television.
The Local reported in February that a woman from Eskilstuna in southern Sweden had twice had abortions after finding out the gender of the child.
----------
Swedish law is based on modern Western norms, giving the woman full control of her body. However, though this might seem like an extension of the pro-life vs. pro-choice debate, this is something completely different. The reason the Swedish health authorities had to check whether aborting a fetus due to its sex is legal is because there have been several such cases recently. And these cases are not based on some capricious whim by a certain woman who wants a baby of a certain gender. It's based on a culture where a boy is worth far more than a girl.
These women are not coming only from Sweden. In Norway such abortions are illegal and therefore, women who are being pressured to have boys, go to Sweden.
----------
In a previous case, a man was sentenced to a fine of 4,000 Swedish kroner for threatening to put a pistol to a doctor's head if she didn't tell him the fetus' sex, according to Svenska Dagbladet
(..)
Midwife Sara Kahsay says the practice is probably more common among cultures where it's especially important to have baby boys. She says it's not uncommon for her to get calls from women who want to know the sex of their fetus very early on.
"There is no doubt that some them experience enormous pressure to have baby boys," she told VG.
----------
Do these women really have a choice? The Swedish system is trying to empower women to decide on their own, but in this case, they're empowering the husbands to force the women to have boys. The system is trying to have full equality between boys and girls, but in this case, it allows for boys to live, and girls to die.
A woman's choice is only a valid reason as long as it's really a choice. In recent years Europe has seen this very debate on the topic of hijab. Muslim women who want to wear the hijab say it's their choice, and they're right. But there are many Muslim women for whom wearing a hijab is not a choice, and these women need the protection of the law as well.
The Swedish health authorities will have to find a way to maneuver between a woman's right to choose to abort an unwanted pregnancy, and a woman's right to choose to continue an unwanted pregnancy, or a pregnancy that is unwanted by certain members of her family. As the law is today, it assumes the latter is never a problem.
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