By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi, April 29, 2020: More efforts are needed to protect unborn baby girls in India, says a Christian legal advocacy organization.
Vanishing Girls is a campaign initiated by the Indian unit of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF India) to raise awareness against the practice of sex-selective abortions and to advocate for effective implementation of the Pre-Conception Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994.
The law makes the determination of the sex of the fetus a punishable offense and prescribes strict punishment for sex-selective abortions.
Maneka Gandhi, who was the Indian Minister for Women and Child Development in 2015, noted that some 2,000 girls (victims of sex-selective abortions) were killed daily in the country, which she termed as a matter of national shame.
ADF India director Tehmina Arora, says their goal is to ensure that, “within our generation, girls will have equal dignity and opportunity.”
The organization plans to improve awareness and public engagement on this issue through litigation, training and social media.
Their campaign in the past has impacted at least 1,658 people. “We need to adopt a model of LIFE for all girls,” she told Matters India elaborating LIFE as Love, Inheritance, Freedom and Equality.
On April 25, ADF India launched a signature campaign demanding the immediate reinstatement of rules of sex selection act to save unborn girls.
Arora expressed surprise and shock over the “sudden and inexplicable suspension of some key provisions” of the act. “This is putting the lives of thousands of unborn girls at risk every day. During the period of this suspension, there will be a rampant occurrence of sex-selective abortions,” she explained.
“While we are extremely respectful of the relentless efforts of the medical fraternity in saving the lives of patients suffering from COVID-19, we firmly believe that there can be no let-up in the efforts to save the lives of unborn girls,” said the lawyer activist.
The arbitrary suspension of rules up to June 30 is unjustified, she said and added that it puts the lives of unborn girls at risk, and must, therefore, be immediately reversed.
On April 23, ADF India wrote to Harsh Vardhan, the federal Minister for Health and Family Welfare, expressing its concern to address the issue of unborn girls at risk.
“All concerned citizens, committed to saving our vanishing girls, are requested to lend your support to this cause by visiting www.vanishinggirls.in and signing the petition,” said Arora.
ADF India will submit the petition to the minister and his ministry on May 7.
On June 27, 2019, during Question Hour, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani told Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Parliament):
“The fallacy that the girl child is unprotected only among the uneducated is a fallacy and myth that we need to burst. It is true that in areas where very well educated families reside, this kind of discrimination has been witnessed. It is an issue that has been studied not only in my government, but also the governments of the past.”
“The ‘Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao’ Andolan (Teach daughter, save daughter campaign) actually seeks to engage even with civil society groups in such areas to address this issue.”