Althouse: "Following allegations that actor Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) conducted a test to determine the sex of his yet-to-be-born surrogate child..."

June 27, 2013

"Following allegations that actor Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) conducted a test to determine the sex of his yet-to-be-born surrogate child..."

"... the state government and BMC have decided to crack down on genetic counselling centres. A report is expected in 15 days."

All over the world, it takes a celebrity to bring an issue to the surface of the public mind.

43 comments:

FleetUSA said...: This guy is a huge star in Bollywood like DiCaprio or Pitts.; 6/27/13, 12:02 PM
Anonymous said...: It's not the testing that's a problem, it's the girls that get aborted in countries that prefer boys.

India and China will lead the world in production of sex-dolls (taking over from Japan).; 6/27/13, 12:05 PM
kentuckyliz said...: But abortion activists are forced to defend abortion for any reason, or no reason, and despicable reasons. Ain't nobody's business. They can define the mystery of the universe for themselves. If you mystery requires a boy child, kill the reject.; 6/27/13, 12:11 PM
YoungHegelian said...: You're expecting a nuanced touch from a guy who named his son Aryan?; 6/27/13, 12:19 PM
Carnifex said...: to comment on YOUR comment, it's because of the dumbing down of the whole freaking world by the left. Logic and reason have little importance, as long as you feel good about what you personally are doing. If you feel good about it then no one else can say shit, or judge you for doing it. It's a drug, that plain and simple. People need their endorphin hit like those rats Skinner had tearing each other apart to get one little last bite of food.; 6/27/13, 12:22 PM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: This crackdown is going to result in the senseless injury or death of countless women at the hands of back-alley geneticists.; 6/27/13, 12:26 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: This book has been out for a while.

You cannot have unrestricted abortion rights without having consequences like this.

Wait until there's a neonatal test for autism, or homosexuality. Then watch these people... disappear.; 6/27/13, 12:40 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @John Lynch,

You cannot have unrestricted abortion rights without having consequences like this.

Are you saying those fancy robe wearing clowns in the Curia may have actually been on to something when they warned us about playing God?

Say it isn't true!; 6/27/13, 12:44 PM
Nonapod said...: Since the actual sex of the baby in humans in determined by the male gamete, and sperm that contain an X chromosome are slightly heavier than sperm containing the Y, I don't believe it's difficult centrifugate out the two different types and select your baby's gender. What are the ethics of that?; 6/27/13, 12:44 PM
Rob said...: Chaka Khan is having a baby?; 6/27/13, 12:54 PM
Methadras said...: Are going to tell people that we must leave it chance on what the sex of your offspring should be even though we have the ability now to determine that upon conception? Even though this is in india, the implications are far more reaching than that. Will or should people be allowed to determine the gender of their child? If government should regulate that, then what is to stop government from asking who should be able to have a child and what that sex should be.; 6/27/13, 12:58 PM
Methadras said...: Also, why should government even have that power?; 6/27/13, 12:58 PM
Ann Althouse said...: The right to choose is a bitch.; 6/27/13, 1:02 PM
kentuckyliz said...: His feelings are the path to knowledge.

It's a girl? Blech. Kill the bitch.; 6/27/13, 1:03 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: This is old news to anyone who has thought about it at all.

The more tests we have, the more babies get aborted. Some number of choices will be made.; 6/27/13, 1:12 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/27/13, 1:25 PM
n.n said...: The choice of selective birth or abortion is not limited to "designer babies." The central feature of this opportunity is to choose preferred characteristics in "clumps of cells."

There is a desire by some or many human beings to live forever. With a general and progressive devaluation of human life, they may yet enjoy that outcome. Let the experiment continue.

The organ market in Kosovo and other places was an early preview of the possibilities and consequences. Gosnell's clinic of horrors demonstrates other possibilities and consequences.; 6/27/13, 1:26 PM
edutcher said...: Not necessarily a celebrity, but someone who might look like a celebrity's son.; 6/27/13, 1:42 PM
Anonymous said...: http://www.madisoncatholicherald.org/news/state/4145-gender-abortions.html

The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) joined other pro-life groups in voicing support for a bill before the Wisconsin Legislature to impose a civil penalty on doctors who knowingly perform sex-selective abortions.

Assembly Bill 217 (authored by Rep. Steve Kestell, R-Elkhart Lake) received a public hearing on May 29 before the state Assembly Committee on Health.

Sex-selective abortion
A sex-selective abortion is an abortion that is performed when the parent or parents of the unborn child abort because the baby is not of the desired sex. Most of the time, unborn girls are aborted because the parents wanted to have a son.

Effects of sex-selection laws
Wisconsin Right to Life reported that since a similar law banning sex-selection was passed in Texas, estimates are abortions have dropped by 10 to 15 percent -- that’s 8,000 to 12,000 additional lives saved through one act of the legislature.

On July 1, 2012, the state of Virginia also enacted a law to ensure women are able to view their baby prior to an abortion. Early reports indicate abortions in Virginia may have declined as much as 20 percent since the law passed.

In 2012, a journal affiliated with Planned Parenthood, the Guttmacher Policy Review, issued a paper on sex-selective abortions ("A Problem-and-Solution Mismatch: Son Preference and Sex-Selective Abortion Bans"), which recognized the widespread use of such abortions in Asian countries and acknowledged that the practice may be spreading to the United States.

The Guttmacher paper concluded that the real way to stop sex-selection abortions is not to prohibit such abortions but to address the underlying conditions that can lead to them, namely an end to poverty and violence, and an increase in access to health care and education for women.

Assisting the most vulnerable
WCC Associate Director for Respect Life and Social Concerns Barbara Sella agreed that there is much work to be done on these underlying issues and she pointed out that the Catholic Church runs charities, hospitals, schools, and prison ministries precisely to assist the most vulnerable.

"Here in Wisconsin, the bishops have long supported efforts to expand educational opportunities, increase access to health care, rein in predatory lenders, increase the minimum wage, reform criminal justice, improve immigration laws -- to name a few," she noted.

"But serving the needs of the poor -- as vital as it is -- is not enough to halt the spread of sex-selective abortions or abortions in general. For that to happen a cultural shift has to take place and the law can play an important part in that shift. The law signals what is and is not acceptable behavior. Choosing to abort based on gender or ability, or some other trait is simply wrong."

Not denying freedom of right to life
"Abortion rights logic rests on the premise of freedom or absolute choice -- a choice that by definition has no limits," Sella argued. "This, however, is not what defines true liberty or freedom. True freedom involves living in such a way that one does not deny freedom to others.

"AB 217 forces us to confront once again the question of what truly furthers respect for women: absolute freedom that would deny the right to life to a girl because she is not a boy or an affirmation that her life is worthy of respect both inside and outside the womb."

Other groups supporting the bill include Wisconsin Right to Life, Wisconsin Family Action, and Pro-Life Wisconsin. Opponents include Planned Parenthood and the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health, Inc. The committee took no action on the bill.; 6/27/13, 1:48 PM
Gahrie said...: Why isn't Althouse defending the right of Indian women to know the gender of the fetus, and then choose whether or not to kill it?

Is she implying that there is some type of limitation on a woman's right to choose?; 6/27/13, 1:49 PM
Gahrie said...: Wait...so a female fetus has a right to life that must be protected?

Where did that come from?; 6/27/13, 1:52 PM
Anonymous said...: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/abortion-bills-await-governors-signature-or-more-debate-b9939320z1-212688681.html?ipad=y

"Three bills on abortion have passed at least one house of the Legislature this month. The ultrasound bill, which is awaiting Gov. Scott Walker's signature, would require women to undergo the procedure before an abortion. The other two bills would outlaw abortions meant to choose the sex of a fetus and ban the use of taxpayer money to cover abortions in public employees' health insurance plans and free religious groups from having to provide contraception in their employee health plans.

Kit Beyer, spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), said that Vos was still reviewing the bill and that it was too early to say whether it would have his support or move forward in that house.

Democrats said the Republicans should focus on creating jobs and not on social issues.

"This bill is a clear attempt by Wisconsin Republicans to distract our communities from their abysmal record on jobs and wages," Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Shorewood) said in an email."; 6/27/13, 1:57 PM
n.n said...: Gahrie:

There is always a threshold for the liberal perspective. While it is unprincipled, it is also constrained. The challenge is to infer individual limits. It's a game where knowledge is gained through observation (i.e. "content of character"), then confirmed through trial and error (i.e. "content of action"). Just another engrossing facet of life on Earth, which is often an end of its own.; 6/27/13, 2:00 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: It's the War on Women.; 6/27/13, 2:02 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/27/13, 2:13 PM
Larry J said...: John Lynch said...
It's the War on Women.

Or in this case, the War on Unborn Women.; 6/27/13, 2:15 PM
wwww said...: This isn't abortion. These are genetic tests done on the 5 day old embryo in the lab before implantation. The lab techs are trying to decide which embryo looks the best for implantation.

The tests look for things like Tay Sachs, although, of course, they can also see the gender of the embryo.; 6/27/13, 2:17 PM
Baron Zemo said...: It will be interesting to watch feminists and homosexuals fight to limit abortions based on the presumption that the baby would be a woman or gay.; 6/27/13, 2:23 PM
Gahrie said...: This isn't abortion. These are genetic tests done on the 5 day old embryo in the lab before implantation. The lab techs are trying to decide which embryo looks the best for implantation.

Bullshit.

These genetic clinics are located next door to abortion clinics, and the purpose is indeed to determine the gender of the fetus so that female children can be aborted.; 6/27/13, 2:30 PM
Thorley Winston said...: It will be interesting to watch feminists and homosexuals fight to limit abortions based on the presumption that the baby would be a woman or gay.

I once attended a session in college in which an openly gay speaker said (paraphrase) “someday when we identify the genes that determine whether someone will be gay or straight pro-lifers will begin rethinking their views on abortion.”

I told her she was projecting.; 6/27/13, 2:42 PM
Candle said...: I will not rest until every womyn is free to decide her own sex and sexual orientation. Until that day, I stand against bigotry and sexscrimination.; 6/27/13, 2:46 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/27/13, 2:58 PM
patriarchal landmine said...: hasn't stopped american women from aborting male babies just because they're male.

think anyone would demand government intervention in that situation? of course not, it's only when they suspect (without evidence) that someone might abort a girl that it's a crime.; 6/27/13, 3:16 PM
Paddy O said...: I don't get how this would work. Gender identity can't be determined simply through genetics. He would have to wait until the child identifies with a particular gender before knowing.; 6/27/13, 6:33 PM
Methadras said...: Inga said...

The Guttmacher paper concluded that the real way to stop sex-selection abortions is not to prohibit such abortions but to address the underlying conditions that can lead to them, namely an end to poverty and violence, and an increase in access to health care and education for women.

This is the money quote, aka large transfers of wealth from those that produce to those that don't so we can stop them from doing this horrid thing because after all they can't stop from fucking each other stupid. End poverty, end violence, end the poor. You can end the poor by ignoring them. Stop giving them money. They will get their shit straight because they will know that free money ain't comin' their way.

Typical of Inga, to couch leftist drivel as Catholic dissemination from the religious left. A laughable and ridiculous cultural supposition if I ever heard one.; 6/27/13, 6:44 PM
Methadras said...: Gahrie said...

Why isn't Althouse defending the right of Indian women to know the gender of the fetus, and then choose whether or not to kill it?

Is she implying that there is some type of limitation on a woman's right to choose?

Because in Althouse' own words, choice is a bitch. She doesn't have to be the bitch to tell them they are on their own.; 6/27/13, 6:45 PM
ken in tx said...: Northern Indians and Iranians are still very proud of being Aryan. Germans not so much. I doubt they ever were. They are Gauls and/or Celts.; 6/27/13, 8:04 PM
DEEBEE said...: Never in Amerika, we are too sophisssssticated, Hick!; 6/27/13, 8:17 PM
Unknown said...: If women have the right to decide that a baby in utero is not a human being, than why would it matter that she might want to scrap certain "products of conception" but allow others to become humans?

The pretzel logic of the abortion rights crowd is a thing to behold.; 6/27/13, 8:24 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/27/13, 9:43 PM
n.n said...: Paddy O:

That's true. I forgot that gender identity is a malleable and even context-sensitive construct. The child will not know which gender it prefers until it is exploited by well-intentioned, decent men and women and learns to maximize leverage and profit through legal and emotional extortion, or perhaps when the mood should strike it.; 6/27/13, 9:47 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: I don't see what the problem is. Of all the ethical issues produced by abortion *this* is the important one? I think not.; 6/27/13, 11:30 PM
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