Selective Abortion Research Articles

Leaf herbivory causes abortion of selfed seeds in Rhododendron kaempferi var. kaempferi

AbstractPlant reproduction is often inhibited by herbivorous leaf damage, which affects the resource pool allocated for reproduction. Rhododendron kaempferi var. kaempferi is a semi‐evergreen shrub widely distributed in Japan, and its leaves are occasionally damaged by sawfly larvae (Arge similis). This species is partially self‐compatible, but its selfed seedlings suffer from inbreeding depression. Our study aimed to clarify (1) the magnitude of herbivorous damage under natural conditions, (2) the effects of foliage damage on seed number and mass, and (3) the possibility of selective abortion of selfed seeds to maintain outcrossed seed production under resource limitation. In the 2022 survey, 2 of the 20 ramets observed were collectively parasitized by sawfly larvae, and the most damaged ramet had a 59.6% foliage loss. In contrast, the herbivorous damage in 2023 was consistently low throughout the growing season, averaging a 3.2% loss. Leaf excision reduced the seed number per fruit (i.e., low seed‐set rate) but did not affect the individual seed mass. The outcrossing rate of the excision treatment (81.7%) was significantly higher than that of the control (72.0%). The values of seed‐set rate × outcrossing rate were 0.172 for the excision treatment and 0.171 for the control, nearly equal. Our results indicated that (1) sawfly larvae damage was concentrated on a few specific plants, (2) intense foliage damage reduced seed number but not seed mass, and (3) R. kaempferi mitigated the decline in outcrossed seed production by the abortion of selfed seeds when leaves were intensively damaged.

The Substance View and Cases of Complicated Multifetal Pregnancy.

I consider cases of multifetal pregnancy in which one fetus with a fatal birth defect poses a risk to the survival of another healthy fetus to show that the substance view anti-abortion position leads to a contradiction. In cases of complicated multifetal pregnancy, if intervention by selective abortion to terminate the defective fetus is not performed, both fetuses will die due to the conditions created by the defective fetus's fatal birth defect. Because abortion is wrong on the anti-abortion position, and a moderate anti-abortion position cannot make an exception for selective abortion in cases of complicated multifetal pregnancy if it operates on the substance view, choosing selective abortion must be wrong, so one must let both fetuses die. However, the substance view anti-abortion position must take letting both fetuses die to be wrong, otherwise it will undermine itself as an anti-abortion position. Further, the substance view provides grounds for why letting fetuses die would be wrong anyway. Thus, the substance view anti-abortion position must take both having an abortion and not having an abortion to be wrong, which is a contradiction. Therefore, cases of complicated multifetal pregnancy show that the substance view anti-abortion position is false.

Striving Against Sonlessness: The Moral Uses of Medical Pluralism in Western Indian Quests for a Boy.

Amid patriarchal conditions that render one son necessary and multiple daughters burdensome, selective abortion of female fetuses has become pervasive in India. Public responses often cast sex selection as self-evidently ignorant, cruel, and misogynistic - an obvious evil meriting denunciation and eradication. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Gujarat state, this article zooms out from ultrasound and abortion to survey the landscape of biomedical, herbal, and religious son production techniques surrounding them. Doing so clarifies the lived moral experience in which sex selection is embedded. Resort to multiple son production techniques is both an abstract moral indicator reflecting prevailing concerns and a pragmatic moral intervention aimed at harnessing every available means in response to those concerns. Fundamentally, people live out the multimodal quest that sometimes leads to selective abortion as aspiration - social, bodily, spiritual - toward an indispensable good, not as heartless rejection of daughters. Pluralistic son production illuminates the moral uses of medical pluralism for care-seekers, social scientists, and policymakers and practitioners. The case underscores that "complementary" therapies, rather than being just desperate behaviors, barriers to biomedical therapy, or curiosities to be integrated into care, may in fact be the clearest markers of the moral conditions in which public health problems unfold.

New perspectives on fighting violence against women.

Gender-based violence (GBV) and, more specifically, violence against women (VAW) are commonly considered a consequence of a patriarchal structure-a social system granting the senior male absolute authority over the family and the community as a whole. Anthropologists have documented that human male dominance is rooted in evolution, with male violent behavior observed among the great apes. Given that evolution is a continuous process, human progress over millennia has modified pre-existing behavior, demonstrating that humans can move beyond ancestral ways of life over time. Precisely because of the imperative to change and improve, at the global international level as well as in individual countries, strong movements are in action to eliminate GBV/VAW. FIGO has been and continues to be at the forefront of the battle for equality, with initiatives that cover many aspects of this, including the imperative to involve men, who-in the majority of cases-are the perpetrators. Since men are often the root of the problem, they must also be at the forefront of the battle to eradicate it. GBV/VAW comprises many facets, including selective female abortion, infanticide, femicide, honor killing, female genital mutilation, and child marriage. These deeply rooted forms of violence continue to perpetuate gender inequalities, remain major obstacles to health and societal progress, and violate the most basic human rights.

Disability, Offense, and the Expressivist Objection to Medical Aid in Dying.

One criticism of medical aid in dying (MAID) is the expressivist objection: MAID is morally wrong because it expresses judgments about disabilities or persons with disabilities, that are offensive, disrespectful, or discriminatory. The expressivist objection can be made at the level of individual patients, medical providers, or the state. The expressivist objection originated with selective abortion, and responses to it in that context typically claim either that selective abortion does not express specific judgments about disabilities, or that any judgments expressed are not offensive. This response is inadequate: MAID often does express negative judgments about disabilities, which could reasonably be seen as offensive. But, does this offensiveness make MAID wrong? Drawing on Joel Feinberg's account of offense, I argue that it is unlikely that the offensiveness of the judgments expressed by individuals who seek MAID or through the state's legalization of MAID is enough to make it morally impermissible.

Selective Abortions in Montenegro: Legal and Anthropological Analysis

In the old Montenegrin masculine patriarchal culture, having children was one of the primary motivations for marriage. Women in labour faced significant community pressure to give birth to a male child, as evidenced by various ethnographic records and confirmed by contemporary anthropological research. Montenegro exhibits one of the most unbalanced ratios of newborn male to female babies among countries. This necessitates an analysis that integrates legal and anthropological perspectives on son preference. The article explores the socio-historical circumstances and modern expressions of the cult of the male child, followed by an examination of the legal implications of selective abortions. The legal dimension of abortion encompasses a broad normative framework, with the fundamental question concerning the boundary of legal protection in this area, i.e., the limit of state intervention in the personal sphere of individuals and citizens. The legal analysis will also include a reflection on the impact of criminal legal protection on this debate, particularly through the lens of the criminal offense of unlawful termination of pregnancy as stipulated in Article 150 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro. Considering the scope of rights to life, family, and reproduction, and recognizing that pregnancy termination motivated by sex selection is generally prohibited, yet this practice is widespread, the assumption is that the formal legal means to address this issue are limited. As this is a societal phenomenon involving sensitive legal, personal, cultural, religious, political, social, and moral issues, the paper discusses approaches for combating this practice.

Critical examination of ethical dimensions in prenatal and neonatal screening

Increasingly technologized face of reproductive medicine, in which artificial reproductive technology is thriving, and whole genome sequencing is accessible, faces a plethora of new ethical issues. Prenatal tests raise concerns about selective abortions, eugenics and privacy of genetic information, as well as equity and access, while neonatal screening programs are faced with issues concerning the diseases and conditions they cover, disclosure of carrier status and involvement of employers and insurance companies. Even if more and more conditions are identified through genetic screening and testing, many of them have no treatment and diagnosing such a disease has no apparent benefits. False positive results and the incidental discovery of other health issues during genetic testing can cause parental distress and lack of trust in the medical system. Education programs addressed to medical professionals and the public are needed regarding the benefits and the limits of genetic testing and screening.

Negotiating severity behind the scenes: prenatal testing in Germany.

Foetal-related severity is a key concept in policy and legislation relating to access to both reproductive technologies and selective abortions in many countries around the world, but not in Germany. This study sheds light on how 'severity' in the context of prenatal testing is understood and negotiated within the particular socio-cultural and legal context of Germany, where 'severity' relating to foetal clinical findings neither counts as a justification to implement population prenatal screening programs, nor as a legal ground to terminate pregnancy. This study explores the views of women who undergo prenatal testing, as well as of professionals who encounter them, through semi-structured interviews. It showcases how they frame severity and questions whether the existing legal and regulatory framework relating to prenatal testing and termination of pregnancy addresses their concerns and needs regarding reproductive decision-making. The interviews (n = 27) reveal that despite it being legally outside the explicit reasons for testing and termination of pregnancy, both women and professionals negotiate severity behind the scenes. Their interpretation of severity is highly context-dependent and relies on clinical, social and familial facets. Their perceptions of severity guide them in their handling of and decision-making around pregnancy management. Acknowledging the personal nature of severity assessment and providing professional or legal guidance which explicitly mentions foetal anomaly as a legitimate factor in pregnancy management could provide healthcare professionals and patients with the room needed to manage the pregnancy favourably.

Anti-proliferation and apoptosis induced via the mTOR/PGC-1α signaling pathway in trophoblast cells of miscarriage

Miscarriage is a common complication during early pregnancy and affects approximately 10%–15% of all pregnant women. Several studies have reported that the abnormal expression of mitochondrial oxidative stress-related genes might be involved in the occurrence and progression of miscarriage. The present study attempted to uncover the role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) in miscarriage chorionic villous tissue. The hypothesis that PGC-1α is crucial for glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation during early pregnancy was tested. The results showed that the mRNA and protein levels of PGC-1α were significantly increased in the miscarriage chorionic villous tissues compared with the artificial selective abortion group, and that the expression was regulated by mTOR in knockdown and overexpression of mTOR in HTR8 cell lines. PGC-1α also promoted mitochondrion oxidative phosphorylation but inhibited glycolysis process. In addition, PGC-1α could drive ROS production, reduce mitochondrial membrane potential and block NADPH synthesis, resulting in cell cycle arrest and cell apoptosis, eventually leading to miscarriage. These results suggested that the aberrant expression of PGC-1α is involved in the etiology of early miscarriage, providing new perspectives regarding the mechanisms of miscarriage and a potential therapeutic target for miscarriage.

Who has a meaningful life? A care ethics analysis of selective trait abortion.

Trait Selective Abortions (TSA) have come under critique as a medical practice that presents potential disabled infants as burdens and lacking the potential for meaningful lives. This paper, using the author's background as a disabled person, contends that the philosophy underpinning TSAs reflects liberal society's lack of a theory of needs. The author argues for a care ethics based approach informed by disability analyses to engage with TSAs.

Single-cell RNA-seq reveals a link of ovule abortion and sugar transport in Camellia oleifera.

Camellia oleifera is the most important woody oil crop in China. Seed number per fruit is an important yield trait in C. oleifera. Ovule abortion is generally observed in C. oleifera and significantly decreases the seed number per fruit. However, the mechanisms of ovule abortion remain poorly understood at present. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) was performed using mature ovaries of two C. oleifera varieties with different ovule abortion rates (OARs). In total, 20,526 high-quality cells were obtained, and 18 putative cell clusters were identified. Six cell types including female gametophyte, protoxylem, protophloem, procambium, epidermis, and parenchyma cells were identified from three main tissue types of ovule, placenta, and pericarp inner layer. A comparative analysis on scRNA-seq data between high- and low-OAR varieties demonstrated that the overall expression of CoSWEET and CoCWINV in procambium cells, and CoSTP in the integument was significantly upregulated in the low-OAR variety. Both the infertile ovule before pollination and the abortion ovule producing after compatible pollination might be attributed to selective abortion caused by low sugar levels in the apoplast around procambium cells and a low capability of hexose uptake in the integument. Here, the first single-cell transcriptional landscape is reported in woody crop ovaries. Our investigation demonstrates that ovule abortion may be related to sugar transport in placenta and ovules and sheds light on further deciphering the mechanism of regulating sugar transport and the improvement of seed yield in C. oleifera.

Attitudes and Practices Toward Sex-Selective Abortion in an Urban District of Nepal: Findings From a Cross-Sectional Study.

Nepal, a country with deeply ingrained patriarchal values and culture, has limited evidence regarding the practices of sex selection and sex-selective abortion. This study aimed to investigate the attitudes and practices surrounding sex-selective abortion (SSA) and the factors associated with it. A cross-sectional study design was used to collect data from 320 women between the ages of 15 and 49, who had at least one child under the age of 5 and lived in the Bhaktapur district, Nepal. A total of 19.7% of the participants had undergone an abortion, with 39.6% of those being SSAs. Factors like women empowerment and preference for smaller family size are associated with women's favorable attitude toward SSA. In multivariate analysis, women who faced pressure from their families to have a son and those who were aware of Nepal's abortion laws were more likely to abort a female fetus.

Moderland utan kvinnor: kast, klass och patriarkat i Manish Jhas Matrubhoomi

This article offers a critical analysis of Manish Jha’s debut feature film Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women (2003). The movie offers a dystopic vision of a near future when the systematic killing of new born females would leave villages and its surroundings with no women in it at all. Referring to this phenomenon as ‘bachelor villages’, scholars have identified this as an emerging social problem with wide far-reaching implications for gender relations and social life in general. Existing scholarship has highlighted how the shortage of women leads to increasing levels of violence embodied in practices such as polyandry, child marriage, rape, trafficking and kidnapping of women from neighbouring regions. Furthermore, the film articulates a central paradox: the symbolic deification of the ‘mother of the nation’ in national imaginary and her systematic elimination through sex-selective reproductive technologies. In our close reading, we draw on feminist political economy to understand the power dynamics shaped through the intersections of gender, class and caste and how this transforms the social fabric in a village which has systematically eliminated women and girl-children. We combine a thematic analysis with a reading of Matrubhoomi’s cinematic features. Furthermore, the violence in the film is analyzed through what we call ”economies of violence” which is related to the paradoxical development trajectory in India. While the Indian government has initiated several schemes for the empowerment of women, these progressive processes are often accompanied by escalating violence against women, which cannot be abstracted from cultural configurations of gendered practices of son preference and sex selective abortions. We highlight the pivotal theme of remasculinization as constructed in relation to patriarchy, caste, class and sexuality and how it functions as a vector for economies of violence. We suggest that the film illustrates how a seemingly feminist agenda can be formulated from the position of a patriarchal, heteronormative, homophobic and transphobic logic.

Sex Selection – Cultural and Ethical Issues

This lecture on “Sex Selection – Cultural and Ethical Issues” delves into the complex and controversial topic of sex selection, exploring its technological, cultural, and ethical implications. While there is an argument of parent autonomy and their rights to choose and have the option to control and design their family structure, the topic of designing one’s own family is still considered highly contentious as well as controversial. At first glance, such a practice seems quite justifiable as the technology enables parents to avoid having disabled children and serious genetic disorders and maintain balance in the family structure. Yet, on the slippery slope and fine line drawn between what is justifiable and acceptable and what is a definite strong NO, people have become increasingly misguided and ill steered into a rather dark and mischievous side of the practice of sex selection. The lecture begins by discussing the cultural aspects of sex selection, examining how different societies view gender preferences and how these preferences impact reproductive choices. It explores historical perspectives and cultural norms that influence the desire for a specific sex, highlighting variations across regions and communities. The existing patriarchal traditions in most of the Asian countries, masculine hegemony, female seclusion, social and cultural norms with regards to gender roles all contribute to a male biased sex selection. As the Chinese say, “With one son you have a descendant, with ten daughters you have nothing”, and Amartya Sen has rightly stated the concept of ‘missing girls’, the social norms of preference for a son has led to a situation of ‘floating men’ or ‘bare branches’ or ‘surplus males’. These skewed sex ratios are a threat to the society in ways that may not be realised at the moment. Women-trafficking, expansion of prostitution, young surplus males failing to find partners will be prone to pursue satisfaction through vice and violence, which may intensify socially disruptive behaviour, low self-esteem, rape, anti-social behaviour, threatening regional and international security. While at the national level, all south Asian countries have taken a paternalistic approach by making strict regulations regarding the abortion and female feticide (sex selective abortion SSA), what remains to be addressed is the society’s mind-set towards ending discrimination at the womb. Couples in such societies are under constant coercive forces in their family and outside, for sex selection, and may perhaps be stigmatized by their society for not having a male child. So, is it even up-to the parents at all to decide their family structure? The evidence shows that banning SSA is not enough to control SSA; banning SSA resembles treating a disease but not the cause of the disease. Women’s devaluation in many Asian societies is embedded in religious beliefs and traditional cultural practices, and uprooting this culture may not be easy and immediate. A good stewardship approach is what is the need of the hour, wherein, the countries develop and implement policies, legislations, and programs within a holistic context, addressing women’s education deficit, rights, socioeconomic disadvantage, health, and nutrition, living conditions, so that they are not perceived as ‘Paraya Dhan’, meaning someone else’s property, but seen as independent, empowered members of the society.

Birth outcomes of twins after multifetal pregnancy reduction compared with primary twins

BackgroundThe introduction of assisted reproductive technology and the trend of increasing maternal age at conception have been responsible for a significant rise in the incidence of multiple pregnancies. Multiple pregnancies bear several inherent risks for both mother and child. These risks increase with plurality and type of chorionicity. Multifetal pregnancy reduction is the selective abortion of one or more fetuses to improve the outcome of the remaining fetus(es) by decreasing the risk of premature birth and other complications. ObjectiveThis study compares the birth outcomes of trichorionic triplets reduced to twins with trichorionic triplets and primary dichorionic twins. The added value of this study is the comparison with an additional control group, namely primary dichorionic twins. Study designThis is a retrospective cohort study. Data from January 1990 till November 2016 were collected from the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey, one of the largest European multiple birth registries. Eigthy-five trichorionic triplet pregnancies (170 neonates) undergoing multifetal pregnancy reduction (MPR) to twins were compared to 5,093 primary dichorionic twin pregnancies (10,186 neonates) and 104 expectantly managed trichorionic triplet pregnancies (309 neonates). The outcomes are gestational age at delivery, birth weight, and small for gestational age. ResultsPregnancy reduction from triplets to twins is associated with a higher birth weight (+365.44 g, 95%CI [222.75, 508.14 g], p < .0001) and longer gestational age (1.7 weeks, 95%CI [0.93, 2.46], p< .0001) compared to ongoing trichorionic triplets, adjusted for sex, parity, method of conception, birth year, and maternal age. A trend towards a lower risk of SGA is observed. Reduced triplets have, on average, a lower birth weight (-263.12 g, 95%CI [-371.80, -154.44 g], p < .0001), and a shorter gestational age (-1.13 weeks, 95%CI [-1.70, -0.56], p=0.0001) compared to primary twins. No statistically significant difference between primary twins and reduced triplets that reach 32 weeks of gestation is observed. ConclusionMultifetal pregnancy reduction from trichorionic triplets to twins significantly improves birth outcomes. This suggests that MPR of trichorionic triplets to twins is medically justifiable. However, the birth outcomes of primary twins before 32 weeks of gestation are still better in comparison with reduced triplets. The process of MPR includes at least one fetal death by definition, therefore prevention of higher-order pregnancies is preferred.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of dioecious floral development in Trachycarpus fortunei using Illumina and PacBio SMRT sequencing

BackgroundTrachycarpus fortunei is a plant with significant economic and ornamental value. Both male and female flowers of T. fortunei originate as bisexual flowers, and selective abortion occurs during floral development. However, the regulatory mechanisms underlying this process remain unclear in T. fortunei. In this study, transcriptome sequencing with Illumina and Pacific BioSciences (PacBio) single-molecule real-time (SMRT) platforms were used to investigate gene expression differences between male and female T. fortunei plants.ResultsA total of 833,137 full-length non-chimeric (FLNC) reads were obtained, and 726,846 high-quality full-length transcripts were identified. A total of 159 genes were differentially expressed between male and female flowers at all development stages. Some of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) showed male bias, including serine/threonine-protein kinase (STPK), THUMP1 homolog and other genes. Through single-nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) identification, 28 genes were considered as potential sex-associated SNPs. Time-Ordered Gene Co-expression Network (TO-GCN) analysis revealed that MADS2 and MADS26 may play important roles in the development of female and male flowers T. fortune plants, respectively.ConclusionsThese findings provide a genetic basis for flower development and differentiation in T. fortunei, and improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying sexual differentiation in T. fortunei.

Orchestrating moral bearability in the clinical management of second-trimester selective abortion

In present-day Denmark, second-trimester selective abortion has become a regular medical event, which has turned selective abortion care into a routinized task for health staff. In this article, we explore what forms of care practices abortion providers in Danish public hospitals engage in. Using in-depth interviews, medical documents and social media data, we show that at the center of selective abortion care provision is not only securing safe medical outcomes, but moral labor orientated towards achieving a morally manageable medical event, permeating institutionally developed clinical guidelines, relational face-to-face care, and ideologically driven encouragement of parental-fetal attachment through the use of material objects and visibility practices. We propose to view these entangled realms of practices as aiming towards generating what we term “moral bearability”, meaning that selective abortion care is orchestrated in particular ways to make the abortion, and the implied making and handling of death, simultaneously bearable for couples and health staff.

Prenatal gender selection: medical, ethical and psychological aspects

The aim: to summarize the methodology of prenatal gender selection and the ethical aspects of its implementation.&#x0D; Materials and methods: the authors conducted the review in the database of scientific periodicals PubMed.&#x0D; Results: based on scientific publications, the principal techniques to determine sex in the pre-implantation period, in the embryo and fetus, are presented. Invasive and non-invasive procedures of prenatal diagnosis are described. Invasive procedures include examination of the fetus by chorionic villus sampling karyotyping of cells obtained by amniocentesis. Non-invasive techniques related to pregnant women's blood biochemistry and ultrasound markers of Down syndrome are given. Fetal blood DNA testing is a more sensitive diagnostic parameter that reduces the indication for invasive procedures. The newest and most effective method of sex determination in the pre-implantation period is sperm separation screening. Medical and non-medical reasons for prenatal gender determination, such as prevention of X-linked genetic disorders in a child, a couple's choice to balance the sex of children in the family and social gender preferences are shown. Gender selection for the prevention of X-linked disorders is justified. Ethical issues regarding the balance of children in the family, giving preference to certain sex with the help of advanced diagnostic techniques, and selective abortion are discussed. The bioethical principles for preventing selective abortion resulting from gender reasons are established.&#x0D; Conclusion: for preventing prenatal gender discrimination is highlighted more strongly by the need legal regulation and the ethical control of scientific technologies in reproductive medicine.

Gender-based discrimination and son preference in Punjabi-Canadian families: a community-based participatory qualitative research study

ObjectivesTo conduct a qualitative study, guided by the principles of community-based participatory research, with the following objectives: (1) to provide a conceptual framework describing the drivers of son preference; (2)...

Winners take all: competition for carbon resource determines grain fate.

As an evolutionary strategy, plants overproduce ovaries as a safety net for survival, with those losing in the competition for resources being aborted. Grain abortion is, however, highly detrimental agronomically. The molecular basis of selective abortion of grain siblings remains unknown. In this opinion article we assess the current understanding of the molecular players controlling carbon resource import into ovaries and young grains, followed by an evaluation of the spatial hierarchy of sink capacity among grain siblings, focusing on the roles exerted by sugar transporters and enzymes. We argue that, upon sequential pollination and fertilization, robust activation of the carbon import and sugar signaling system plays a key role in establishing the capacity of grain siblings to acquire enough carbon resources to survive and thrive.