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The message from the Bible is that human life is God-given, important and sacred. Therefore, the sanctity of human life must be respected. Christians believe:

Human life is God’s to give and take away.

Human beings are made in God’s image and therefore have a special status.

Human life begins at conception, not when the baby is born or at some other point in the development of the foetus.

Case study - India's missing girls

On 23 May 2011, the ����ý published an article asking Where are India's millions of missing girls?

The article was based on the figures of the 2011 Indian census, which showed a serious decline in the number of girls under the age of seven. Activists feared that eight million female foetuses may have been aborted from 2001-2011.

The figures show that for every 1000 boys born in India, there are only 914 girls. Campaigners put this down largely to the increased availability of antenatal sex screening. Although India outlawed sex-selective abortion in 1994, campaigners argue that this is not being strictly implemented. In south west Delhi for example, there are dozens of ultrasound clinics. This area has the worst child sex ratio in the capital, with 836 girls for every 1000 boys. Delhi is not alone in this, with sex ratios declining in 17 states in India in the past decade.

The situation exists regardless of the Pre-Natal Determination Test (PNDT) Act of 1994. This outlawed sex-selective abortion and was amended in 2004 to include gender selection even at the pre-conception stage.

For reflection and discussion

• Are there any differences in the ways in which children of different genders have been raised in your own family?
• How might Christians defend abortion generally?
• How might Christians defend abortion specifically in relation to gender selection?
• What arguments might they use against abortion?