Indian parents want boy children. Girls are considered to be a financial burden because they have to be married off at great expense and with hefty dowries. They have poor prospects for education and employment and remaining unmarried and independent is not an option except for the well-to-do.

Abortion is the murder solution of choice. The radiologist determines the sex of the baby during an ultrasound. The parents then have no difficulty procuring an abortion, which is legal in India. Revealing the sex of the baby before birth is not, but doctors do it anyway. Some will use a noun or pronoun clearly identifying the child as female; some may sign the report in red for a girl, blue for a boy; or distribute the report on Monday if it is male, Friday if female.

The tough laws in place are not enough and are enforced sporadically. The doctor is fined, at most faces two years in jail. But the root cause is not addressed: Girls are undesirable. Women are chattel, owned by their parents, burdened on husbands, bred to provide children. A joint Indian/Canadian study published this year found that selective abortion killed 500,000 baby girls each year.