No More Bin Laden

[kandrathe]

http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/a...adis2.html

Perhaps availability? The largest concentrations seem to be Delhi, and up near Shimla. It seems that it is also more dangerous resulting in higher maternal deaths.

That appears to predict the opposite pattern - that we should see a bias in the Northeast and south, and no bias in the Northwest. But (if your first link is right) that's exactly backwards, except for Punjab (which, as Lissa pointed out, is probably an outlier for being mostly Sikh.)

Although I'm not sure these statistics report accurately - your second link seems to imply that Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of abortions, whereas your first codes it as being low-to-middle. That may just be a rates vs. absolute numbers issue, I don't know.

-Jester

Liars figure and figures lie. :-) Something my dad used to tell me. Better to just trust his gut.

Here is another stats source. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_ab...-abortions

Although, these are the official UN stats. According to what I've read searching for relevant data, there are many times more unlicensed unsafe, and unsanitary procedures performed than the official numbers. This is due to the vast shortage of medical care outside of major cities, and a lack of any regulations regarding private medical facilities. see: http://www.ecoindia.com/views/abortion.html That article calculates the ratio, in 1991, was 8 illegal for every 1 legal, and based on the growth of rates (both legal abortion, and maternal death), I'd say the rate is now at least double that. http://reproductiverights.org/en/feature...hts-crisis

Here is a recent article which sheds much light on the topic; http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/16/boy-...-abortion/

I'd say that the majority of the truth is obscured. It's pretty clear the rising rates are probably not due to an increase in gender equality, but rather a rise in gender bias against girl babies, lax enforcement of the existing national laws, coupled with cheap and easy access to the procedure via an unregulated market (which is often lethal).