In 1926 and 1947, 4,000 to 6,000 Canadian women died as a result of bungled, illegal abortions. After that Canada criminalized abortion in the 19th century. The Canadian Parliament banned by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and he made the law that was in place from 1968 to 1988 - it was completely in 1869 under threat of life imprisonment. By the 1960's, it was estimated that anywhere from 35,000 to 120,000 abortions were being performed every year. Today, Canada's legal abortion rate is more then 100,000 a year.

 

On January 28, 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down all legal restrictions on abortion. So now the clinics are open all nine months of pregnancy for abortion. Also Harper government closed the chapter as well. But it looks like warming up again.

 

If we look at the South Asian communities today Indians and China is not behind from this kind of criminal issues. Talking  about Indian typical wife that faces immense pressure to bless her family with a precious son, “Her position is not consolidated without at least one male child. Many couples abort female fetuses in the hope their next attempt will result in a son to carry on the family’s name.

 

India has a long history of perpetuating the subordinate position of women. A woman there is known to first be a daughter to her father, then a sister to her brother, then wife to her

husband, then a mother to her son, then a widow to her dead husband. In every role she plays, she is always at the mercy of a male. The Indian way of life encourages arranged marriages and a dowry system where girls have no say on who they marry and are in danger of being killed so their husbands can remarry. Some areas even encourage SATI, a practice at her husband’s funeral.

 

Abortion was first legalized in India in 1973 with the medical termination of pregnancy Act. Similar to the United States, reforms were created to because of the large number of illegal, unsafe abortions. But India’s government failed to consider the social effect of skewed abortions. But, sadly I want to add that the country like Canada in the civilized world that has absolutely no abortion law at all.

 

It was once estimated up to 50 million girls were ‘missing’ from population due to systematic gender discrimination.  In later years, the government made pre-natal sex determination for the purpose of abortion a penal of fence. This only brought about illegal canters offering gender determining technology.  Improving education is key to ending this ugly trend: Statistics show that the termination of daughters is fifty per cent higher among mothers with no education.  We also need to stop aping the West. Abortion was once a big topic for South Asian community. But, as youth adopt western culture, the resistance to the idea is weakening, putting us all in danger.

 

It is sad and very true. Instead of being proud of their traditions and values, Indians are shamelessly aping the west. We thought that children growing up in India would have a better chance of understanding their Culture and roots but now I feel that it does not matter if they grow up in India or the west country like Canada or USA. They have let go of everything and they just want to imitate the westerners in every aspect.

 

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