In Central Asia, Pressure To Bear Sons Drives Sex-Selective Abortions

In Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and neighboring countries, newborn boys outnumber girls at a rate well beyond the worldwide average. That shift is the result of sex-selective abortion, in which families choose to terminate a pregnancy when a daughter is expected. Social scientists warn that this choice is not always made freely by pregnant women, who sometimes face coercion from their husbands and relatives.