User:Xiajiao3510/Sex-selective abortion

Lead
I am planning to delete the Prevalence section and reorganize the Reason section. I also rewrote the first summary paragraph of the Reason part.

Article body
I will delete the "Prevalence" section since it overlaps with the "Reasons for sex-selective abortion" section:

(This is the paragraph under "Prevalence") The exact prevalence of sex-selective abortion is uncertain, with the practice taking place in some societies as an open secret without formal data on its frequency. Some authors argue that it is quite difficult to explain why this practice takes place in some cultures and not others, and that sex-selective abortion cannot be explained merely by patriarchal social norms, because most societies are male dominated, but only a minority practice sex-selective abortion. Although this practice is more common in certain cultures over other, some main reasons for choosing sex-selective abortion are inheritance rules, selected dowry systems, and the idea that mothers of sons are of higher importance than mothers of daughters.

This is the first paragraph of "Reasons for sex-selective abortion":

Various theories have been proposed as possible reasons for sex-selective abortion. Culture rather than economic conditions is favored by some researchers because such deviations in sex ratios do not exist in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Other hypotheses include disparate gender-biased access to resources, and attempts to control population growth such as using one child policy.

I rewrote this paragraph as follows:

According to the 2012 report of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities on sex imbalances at birth, there are three preconditions for sex-selective abortion. First, the practice should be feasible with the availability of abortion methods and prenatal sex-screening technologies (e.g., obstetric ultrasonography, cell-free fetal DNA, amniocentesis). Second, changing the sex composition of children should be advantageous to the parents and the family. A variety of socioeconomic factors can account for this sex preference such as inherence rules, patronymic transmission, dowry systems, social preference of family composition. Third, sex-selective abortion should be necessary because of low or decreasing fertility. Given the existence of the social benefits associated with sons, the need for having sons while maintaining a limited number of children is intensified by low fertility. Low fertility can be a result of social norms of family size, rising marginal costs of an additional child, or birth control policies.

'''The current structure of "Reasons for sex-selective abortion" is unorganized and has a great focus on China and India. I will reorganize this section based on the first paragraph I rewrote. The following is the reorganized structure. More sections can be added to this section later.'''


 * 1) Sex selection technology
 * 2) Socioeconomic reasons for son preference and daughter aversion
 * 3) "Culture preference"
 * 4) "Dowry"
 * 5) "Trivers–Willard hypothesis"
 * 6) The "Disparate gendered access to resources" section can also be moved here.
 * 7) Fertility decline
 * 8) "One-child policy"

One-child policy[edit]
Following the 1949 creation of the People's Republic of China, the issue of population control came into the national spotlight. In the early years of the Republic, leaders believed that telling citizens to reduce their fertility was enough, repealing laws banning contraception and instead promoting its use. However, the contraceptives were not widely available, both because of lack of supply and because of cultural taboo against discussing sex. Efforts were slowed following the famine of 1959–61 but were resumed shortly thereafter with virtually the same results. Then, in 1964, the Family Planning Office was established to enforce stricter guidelines regarding fertility and it was moderately successful.

In 1979, the government adopted the One-Child Policy, which limited many families to one child, unless specified by provincial regulations. It was instituted as an attempt to boost the Chinese economy. Under it, families who break rules regarding the number of children they are allowed are given various punishments (primarily monetary), dependent upon the province in which they live.

As stated above, the sex ratios of a province are largely determined by the type of restriction placed upon the family, pointing to the conclusion that much of the imbalance in sex ratio in China can be attributed to the policy. Research by Junhong (2001) found that many parents are were willing to pay to ensure that their child is male they could have a son (especially if their first child is was female), but will would not do the reverse. the same to ensure their child is female. Likely, fear of the harsh monetary punishments of the One-Child Policy make ensuring a son's birth a smart investment. Therefore, son's cultural and economic importance to families and the large expenses associated with multiple children are primary factors leading to China's disparate sex ratio.

In 2013, China announced plans to formally change the One-Child policy, making it less stringent. The National People's Congress has changed the policy to allow couples to have two children, so long as one of the partners is an only child. This change was not sparked by sex ratios, but rather by an aging population that is causing the workforce to become increasingly smaller. It is estimated that this new law will lead to two million more births per year and could cause a baby boom in China. In 2015, China officially relaxed its one child law. Unfortunately, many of China's social problems are based on overpopulation. So, it is unclear if this new law will actually lead to women being more valued in Chinese society as the number of citizens increases.