San Francisco Supervisor David Chiu made waves after announcing a proposed city-wide prohibition on sex-selection abortion bans. Chiu’s resolution, co-authored by four female supervisors, states that a moratorium on sex-selective abortion bans would not only reduce ethnic stereotyping, but would increase abortion access. The proposed measure is so radical, it has drawn criticism from pro-abortion proponents even in one of the nation’s most liberal cities.
The proposed resolution would make San Francisco the first city in the country to implement such a suppression, further emphasizing the city’s radical pro-abortion policies. What is more troubling is that city mayor, Ed Lee, is expected to sign it.
Chiu’s resolution, backed by pro-abortion groups, states the following:
“A coalition of Asian American and reproductive rights, health and justice organizations has formed to educate the public about the stereotyping inherent in sex-selective abortion bans, to condemn the rhetoric of ban advocates as deeply offensive and organize to defeat such discriminatory policies.”
Chiu’s proposal hinges on the basis that repealing bans on gender-based abortions will unravel the stereotyping of ethnic groups such as Asian Americans. The resolution states that these types of prohibitions not only encourage racial stereotyping, but perpetuate discrimination from doctors against individuals based on race or ethnicity.
It’s ironic that Chiu believes that gendercide is not ubiquitous across the United States. The lawmaker told the San Francisco Chronicle:
“There is no evidence that sex-selective abortions are happening in the United States,” Chiu said. “The legislative bans are based on racial stereotypes. We shouldn’t be passing laws that could potentially cause doctors to not provide care or consider turning women in to authorities for these laws.”
Even The Chronicle, a left-leaning publication, criticized the lawmaker’s statement, noting a 2011 study by then UCSF medical student, Sunita Puri. Out of 65 Indian immigrant women surveyed by Puri, 24 of them admitted that they sought abortions because of the sex of the child.
Live Action has also investigated the tragic killing of girls in abortion clinics across the United States. The undercover exposes show abortion clinic staffers encouraging women in femicide.
Although Mr. Chiu essentially ignores the statistics from his own ethnic group — over 160 million females in Asia alone were victims of sex-based abortions, as reported by journalist Mara Hvistendah — he cannot refute that the practice has wreaked havoc across Asia.
As a pro-life Asian-American, gendercide is an issue all too familiar in my culture. As one of three daughters born to a Chinese family, the issue hits close to home. Abortion, though a hushed secret in the Chinese culture, has tainted many families due to China’s one-child policy–even members of my own.
A male child is seen as the bread winner and the one to champion the family name and legacy. Girls, however, are often brutally aborted in the womb. In the same manner, children with disabilities are aborted or abandoned, left to fend for themselves on the streets. Thus, the eradication of females, the disabled, and the defenseless is tragically prevalent, and human life is not cherished.
Does Chiu now desire to bring a stigma that permeates China to America, which was founded on the values of liberty and justice for all?
Even as a second generation American, China’s prejudice against girls has a ripple effect on me. As members of my family went through an adoption process in China, witnessing the number of disabled children and females that were unwanted was heartbreaking. When my family welcomed a beautiful little girl who was abandoned by her birth mother because of her gender, I could not but ponder the fate of so many other girls in China.
As immigrants who escaped the ironclad rule of Mao in Communist China, my family fought prejudice and racial stereotyping through hard work. While claiming to represent the ethnic groups that feel discriminated and demonized by such legislation, Chiu’s proposal only reaffirms the stigma and stereotyping against females and ethnic groups.
Prohibiting sex-selection abortion bans would not only encourage gender-based abortions, but further solidify groups, such as Asian Americans, as racial bodies that abort based on gender. Chiu is correct: his measure would greatly expand abortion access–meaning the elimination of more girls.
Instead of encouraging the rhetoric of sex-based abortions, lawmakers must work to remove it from our verbiage. Officials should refuse to endorse straightjacket legislation that only empowers ethnic minorities to further bring their stigma of girls into America.
Instead, officials must work to build a culture of life based on the founding principles that females, the disabled, and the helpless are cherished and valuable, encouraging them to pursue their dreams and potential upon the values of liberty, as this nation was founded.
