What Is A Girl Worth?

What is a girl worth? Is she a valuable member of society? Or is she a liability to her family, to be disposed of like garbage?

The Prime Minister of India, Monmohan Singh, called for parents in India to stop viewing their girls as commodities or economic liabilities and end the abortions of female fetuses... A.K.A.: BABIES!

In rural India, where girls are still required to have a high bride-price to be considered marriageable, abortions have become a common practice to ensure that a family will have more sons. Ultrasounds at four to five months of gestation reveal the sex of a BABY, and act as a perverted insurance policy for families who do not want too many girls.

Singh's voice comes as a call to sanity against a ghoulish practice.

"We must end the crime of female foeticide. We must eliminate gender disparity," Singh said in an address to the nation.

"We have a dream of an India in which every woman can feel safe, secure and empowered. Where our mothers, sisters and daughters are assured a life of dignity and personal security," he added.

A study by British medical journal The Lancet said this year that India may have lost 10 million unborn girls in the past 20 years, but Indian experts say the figure is not more than five million.

Under Indian law, tests to find out the gender of an unborn baby are illegal if not done for medical reasons, but the practice continues in what activists say is a flourishing multi-million dollar business.

Premier Singh urged parents not to neglect their girl children.

"It should be ensured that every young woman is educated and skilled and capable of guiding a new generation," he said.

Many men in rural India demand a dowry far beyond the financial means of a wife's family, and the new bride is often murdered by the groom when the family cannot meet his demands. Indian women's organizations put the figure of these murders at about 190 per day.

The disproportionate ratio of men to women brought about by female fetocide, coupled with bride-murder puts India into a humanitarian and population crisis.

Let us pray and act that India will resound with more voices such as the Premier's, and that their culture will evolve and change for the better!