US House rejects sex-selection abortion ban

Obama is endorsing sex-based abortion: Republican lawmaker

The US House of Representative has rejected a legislation that would impose fines and prison terms on doctors who would perform abortion for the sole purpose of controlling the gender of a child.

The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) was defeated in a 246-168 vote after open opposition to the bill by rights bodies and women organisations on Thursday.

The White House too came out against such a move by the proponents of the bill, who argued that immigrants from Asia, especially those from countries like China and India indulge in sex-selective abortion. “The administration opposed gender discrimination in all forms. But the end result of this legislation would be to subject doctors to criminal prosecution if they fail to determine the motivations behind a very personal and private decision,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said. “I think we, again, oppose gender discrimination in all cases. I think our record on that is very clear. The President’s record on that is very clear. But the purpose of this legislation — or the result of this legislation would be to subject doctors to criminal prosecution for failing to divine the motivations of their patients when it comes to a very personal and medical decision,” Carney argued.

Congressman Trent Franks, who introduced PRENDA, said a number of academic papers have now published evidence that the practice of sex-selection abortion is demonstrably increasing in the US, especially, but not exclusively, in the Asian community. “Though it did not secure the two-thirds majority necessary to pass under suspension rules, I am confident that this is not the end, but merely the opening salvo in ensuring the words, ‘It’s a girl,’ are no longer a death sentence for so many unborn girls,” Franks said in a statement after the vote.

“I also note the sad and bitter irony that Obama, who has disingenuously accused Republicans of a so-called ‘war on women,’ mustered a truly breathtaking display of hypocrisy in opposing a bill that would prevent aborting those little babies who have the ‘nerve’ to be little girls,” Franks said.