Aizawl: If child sex ratio is any indication, Mizoram with the highest child sex ratio in India, is free from female foeticide which still remains one of the biggest menaces in India.
While the child sex ratio in India has dropped to 914 females against 1,000 males – the lowest since Independence – in the provisional 2011 Census, Mizoram has 971 females against 1000 males, the highest in India.
Even though there no case of sex selection abortion has been reported in Mizoram, it is learnt that there has been a number of misuses of ultrasound technologies by curious pregnant women who wanted to know the sex of their babies.
A state level meeting on the Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection act, 1994) chaired by Health Minister Lalrinliana Sailo on Saturday was informed that some doctors have also violated the Act by revealing the sex of babies to pregnant women.
” Even though it may not necessarily lead to sex selection abortion, using of ultrasound for sex determination during pregnancy is illegal under the Act, ” the Health Minister said.
The Act also makes mandatory for all private hospitals and clinics to have their ultrasounds registered. According to official records, there are 40 registered ultrasounds in Mizoram.
Though Mizo society is a strict patriarchal one, a girl child is never unwanted in a Mizo family. With more than 98 per cent of the population being Christians who consider abortion, except due to medical reasons, as murder, female foeticide is a non-issue in Mizoram. (UNI)
