Editor,
I am aware of the Daily Lobo's policy limiting the printing of responses to letters, but nonetheless I feel that to leave this issue as is would be an injustice to the idea of balanced representation in the media.
My particular qualm stems from the oversimplification and perhaps even misinterpretation of the issues presented in Benjamin Sanchez's opinion letter in Tuesday's edition of the Daily Lobo.
There are causes to sexual discrimination that far transcend abortion. The root causes of sex-selective abortions can be found in deeply ingrained societal ideas and purely practical considerations of the particular cultures. In China, and many other nations, male children are status symbols of fertility and the ones who tend ancestral graves. Furthermore, in India and China the reasons for female fetus abortions can often stem from purely economic considerations. The male offspring are viewed as having a greater ability to bring financial security to a family and thus be able to better support parents in their old age. In addition, the female is an economic detriment due to the dowry.
Lastly, the male offspring will traditionally be the one to carry on the paternal name, while the female, if married, will effectively become part of the groom's family, taking care of his parents. Couple this with skewed perceptions of inherent worth and it does not become difficult to see that abortion does not keep women in chains - deeply ingrained notions of potential do.
Once those perceptions disappear, any motive for sex-selective abortions will as well. Perhaps Sanchez ought to bear a child as the result of sexual assault, while working and getting an education, before he derides abortion as suppressing women in society.
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Leon Richter-Freund
Daily Lobo reader
