Indian Bioethics: the Issue of Female Foeticide and Infanticide. A Sikh Perspective

Abstract

A specific bioethical problem which India encounters today, in the era of prenatal diagnostics, is the problem of the foeticide or infanticide of female children. This problem has also been discussed at various international bioethical conferences as it was the case in February 2003 at the 8th International Bioethical Roundtable (TRT8) in the Japanese Science City of Tsukuba, and in March 2002 in Leiden (Netherlands) at the Asian Genomics – Cultural Values and Bioethical Practice conference. This paper presents some of the key theses resulting from the discussion at the above conferences, and also warns of the serious problem of the misuse of modern medical technology and diagnostics, which should primarily be used for a timely detection of various genetically conditioned diseases or disorders of the course of the intra-uterus life of the baby, rather than, as it is the case in India, to enable the (de)termination of the foetus according to sex. That is, the Indian society is dominated by men, and male children are highly valued, whereas female children are exceptionally discriminated against. This dicrimination is manifested through female children not being provided adequate nutrition or medical care, along with pronounced emotional deprivation. The most recent and, in the same time, worst form of discrimination is exactly female foeticide or infanticide, which – this should be specifically mentioned – is most often carried out in the Indian state Tamil Nadu