Replacing Myths with Facts: Sex Selective Abortion Laws in the United States

In 2013, sex-selective abortion bans were the second most-proposed abortion ban in the states. Twenty-one states and the U.S. Congress have considered these bans since 2009 and eight states have banned sex-selective abortion. To support their efforts to undermine reproductive rights, anti-choice activists and politicians have commonly used six myths— one of them being that Asian American women are giving birth to more boys than girls because they are engaging in sex-selective practices. Our report busts these myths and replaces them with facts about this growing affront on women’s health, and on the Asian American community.

The report draws on legal research, empirical analysis of U.S. census and birth statistics, field work in India, and an extensive review of scholarly publications in social sciences, law and other disciplines. It is the product of partnership between NAPAWF, the International Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago School of Law, and the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California, San Francisco.