Evidence of Decreasing Prenatal Sex-Selection Practice in a Context of Liberal Abortion Rights

Son preference and prenatal sex-selection against females (PSS) among British Asian communities, raised considerable media attention, leading to parliamentary debates on abortion laws in Britain in 2015. PSS among India-born mothers in the 1990s was indirectly evidenced in past UK study by analysing sex-ratios at birth. However, we lack reliable quantitative evidence to document the practice in Britain since 2005 and regulations remained unchanged, offering a unique opportunity to test the need (or not) for abortion regulation to curtail PSS practice. Using annual sex ratio at birth counts from 1969 to 2018 and applying novel indicators, I found that sex-selection prevalence among India-born mothers is reduced in recent years, from its peak at about 4% in the 1990-2005 period. This decline is independent of specific legislation on sex-selective abortion and suggests a weakening of son preference. A reduction in prenatal sex-selection prevalence in Britain, shows that curbing the practice does not request stricter (sex-selection) abortion law. The findings support policy approaches addressing root-causes of gender preference to reduce PSS, while preserving current abortion rights.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11113-025-09974-y.