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Health & Fitness

FEMINIST DILEMMAS

I think feminists may have dilemmas. 

There is legislation that has been presented to the New York State legislature which would prohibit having an abortion for the reason of gender selection. Statistically, the primary basis for selecting a gender of a child is to prefer a male child. This especially true of immigrants of certain Asian descents, many who live in the United States as first generation immigrants. A study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examining Asian-American families using 2000 U.S. census data, determined that the gender ratio of families skyrocketed 50%, male-to-female, between the first and third child born. Hilary Clinton herself lamented “Unfortunately with technology, parents are able to use sonograms to determine the sex of a baby, and to abort girl children simply because they would rather have a boy.”

What will a feminist decide: Support legislation to prohibit gender discrimination, or  should support of abortion rights trump gender discrimination? Which of the sacred cows will be gored? Will otherwise vocal spokespersons stay mum on discrimination of females when it suits a wider political agenda. They now face the dilemma of having to speak out in favor of curtailing abortion rights to prevent genocidal gender discrimination, or staying silent on gender discrimination to give quarter to absolute abortion rights.

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Another feminist dilemma concerns breast cancer and a possible link to having an abortion.  It is generally known that steroidal estrogens are human carcinogens, as listed by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. This substance is used in common abortifacient drugs.  Estrogen overexposure gives a biological explanation for many breast cancer risk factors. Also, a woman who has not had a full-term pregnancy is unable to develop mature, cancer-resistant lobules. The possibility of abortion as a cause of breast cancer was acknowledged by British government scientists as early as 1986, and in 2002, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons called the link “highly plausible.”   Has the prevalence of abortion since 1973 caused a spike in the growing incidence of breast cancer? Breast cancer has in fact risen 40% since 1987, the first generation post-Roe v. Wade.  

Not all abortion causes breast cancer and not all breast cancer is caused by abortion.  However, the mere scientifically-plausible possibility creates a “feminist dilemma”:  support every credible avenue to investigate ways to reduce breast cancer or admit abortion may contribute to a woman’s getting breast cancer.

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