One Hundred Million and Counting

Americans love technology. From flat-panel TVs to satellite radios, we love machines that are bigger, stronger, faster and better than what we had before. But we know that technology offers mixed blessings. That handheld device that makes it possible to call home from almost anywhere also makes it possible for the Boss to find you at any hour. So it is with the technology that has become available to pregnant Moms and Dads. The ultrasound machine has given us a window into the womb, and couples are discovering that what some call “just a blob of tissue” is a living, swimming, sometimes thumbsucking son or daughter.

Around the world today, however, ultrasound technology is being deployed for a sinister purpose. In many parts of the world, where the culture or the economy favors a preference for sons, ultrasound technology is being used to identify and to abort female children. In fact, according to demographer Nick Eberstadt, this targeting of girls has led to a huge gap. One hundred million fewer baby girls who should have been born have been killed for the sole reason that they are female. It’s time the U.S. Congress looked into this human rights debacle and acted to stop it.

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