SEX-SELECTIVE ABORTIONS IN INDIA: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE PRE-CONCEPTION AND PRE-NATAL DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES (PROHIBITION OF SEX SELECTION) ACT, 1994

AUTHOR – PALAK BANSAL, STUDENT AT DELHI METROPOLITAN EDUCATION

BEST CITATION – PALAK BANSAL, SEX-SELECTIVE ABORTIONS IN INDIA: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE PRE-CONCEPTION AND PRE-NATAL DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES (PROHIBITION OF SEX SELECTION) ACT, 1994, ILE MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL, 3 (1) OF 2024, PG. 262-268, APIS – 3920-0007 | ISSN – 2583-7230.

ABSTRACT

This paper critically reviews the evidence supporting (and opposing) government legislation called “Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994” — or PCPNDT Act for short—from an ethical perspective in terms of a public health policy that deals with sex-selective abortions at their source by addressing contributing factors like entrenched cultural preferences which drive investment behaviours into prenatal testing. Except, of course that the Act does in fact ban diagnostic techniques to determine sex and includes onerously strong measures criminalising pre-natal eliminates for gender discrimination. Even though the law significant legal framework, it is fraught with some challenges like poor implementation of submissions and responses to complaints received from any part of the country including obvious under reporting societal preference for male children among others. Even though it has succeeded in getting India global recognition for addressing the issue, and somewhat raised awareness internationally on efforts undertaken to combat the problem, enforcement of this law continues to remain patchy at best and its overall effect aggregatedly negligible or minimal with respect to curtailing sex-based abortion practices. This review highlights substantive enforcement gaps, motivating factors for sex selection practices as well as strategies adopted by violators to evade the law. It also makes recommendations to strengthen the Act through better surveillance, public involvement in enforcement technology enhanced deterrence stricter penalties and judicial process. Thus, the Act will succeed in combating sex-selective practices and achieving gender equality to a much larger extent if these challenges are taken into account.