The ratios have returned to a closer level now though – any parent’s who would be willing to kill a baby daughter would also be willing to have an ultrasound and possible sex-selective abortion, so there is just no more reason for sex-selective infanticide now.

A point that pro-life campaigners overlook regarding china is that were they do do something to prevent sex-selective abortions, it might very well trigger a return to the more primitive methods of the past.

Perhaps Chinese culture will evolve to deal with the problem of not enough women. Perhaps Chinese women will begin taking two or more husbands.

- Its a problem, but I think the post is exagerating. An upset gender ratio is not enough to lead to the collapse of civilisation.

- At least this will slow the out-of-control population growth that many of those countries have been showing.

- Having identified the looming problem, what is the proposed solution? Banning abortion would be far too contriversial, and there are other ways to bias the odds towards a male child anyway (Centrifugal sperm sorting – commonplace in animal breeding, it could be adapted for humans). Not to mention the backstreet- or do-it-yourself methods of abortion, once someone gets their ultrasound results. Those ultrasounds have too much medical importance to restrict. China has laws against sex-selective abortion, but the need to prove motive makes them very hard to enforce. So what else is left?