Difference between revisions of "Infanticide" - New World Encyclopedia

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In [[sociology]] and [[biology]], '''infanticide''' is the practice of intentionally causing the [[death]] of an [[infant]] of a given species by members of the same species. In many past societies, certain forms of infanticide were considered permissible, whereas in most modern societies the practice is considered [[immoral]] and illegal. Nonetheless, it still takes place in the [[Western world]] (usually because of the parent's [[mental illness]] or [[violence|violent behavior]]) and in some poor countries because of tacit societal acceptance.
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In [[sociology]] and [[biology]], '''infanticide''' is the practice of intentionally causing the [[death]] of an [[infant]] of a given species by a member or members of the same species. Many past societies permitted certain forms of infanticide, whereas most modern societies consider the practice [[immoral]] and illegal. Nonetheless, the practice has continued in some poor countries because of tacit societal acceptance, and sometimes in Western countries (usually because of the parent's [[mental illness]] or penchant for [[violence|violent behavior]]). However, such a practice is highly undesirable from many aspects, and human society would benefit from eliminating the circumstances leading to its continued use.
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==Definition==
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In [[sociology]] and [[biology]], '''infanticide''' is the practice of intentionally causing the death of an infant of a given [[species]] by a member or members of the same species. Several species other than [[human being|homo sapiens]] commit infanticide, particularly [[fish]] and [[reptile]]s. One perhaps surprising [[mammal]]ian example is the [[bottlenose dolphin]], which has been reported to kill its young through impact injuries.<ref>Infanticide Reported in Dolphins</ref>
  
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In the [[United Kingdom|UK]], the [[Infanticide Act]] defines ''infanticide'' as a specific crime committed by the mother only during the first twelve months of her infant's life. This article deals with the broader notion of infanticide explained above.
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Birth distinguishes infanticide from [[abortion]]; killing an unborn child or [[fetus]] signifies abortion, but the act becomes infanticide upon birth. "Partial birth abortion," a non-medical term applied to some late-term abortion procedures, seems to blur the line between the two, hence the ensuing controversy and political debate. <ref> [http://usliberals.about.com/od/healthcare/i/PBAbortion.htm About.com's Pros & Cons of Partial Birth Abortion] </ref> As former U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan observed, "This is too close to infanticide." <ref>[http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=3399 Partial-Birth Abortion - A Chink In The Pro-Abortion Armor]</ref> While the general population remains divided over the morality of abortion, most people consider infanticide immoral.
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In the [[United Kingdom]], the Infanticide Act defines "infanticide" as a specific [[crime]] committed by the mother only during the first twelve months of her infant's life. This article deals with the broader notion of infanticide explained above.
  
 
==Infanticide in history==
 
==Infanticide in history==
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Infanticide was common in most literate ancient cultures, including those of ancient [[Greece]], [[Rome]], [[India]], [[China]], and [[Japan]]. The practice of infanticide has taken many forms such as the [[child sacrifice]] to supernatural figures or forces allegedly practiced in ancient [[Carthage]]. However, many societies only practiced simple infanticide and regarded child sacrifice as morally repugnant. The practice has become less common in the western world but continues today in areas of extremely high [[poverty]] and [[overpopulation]] such as parts of China and India [http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html]. Female infants, then and now, are particularly vulnerable — ''see'' [[female infanticide]].
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Infanticide was common in most [[literacy|literate]] ancient [[culture]]s, including those of ancient [[Greece]], [[Rome]], [[India]], [[China]], and [[Japan]]. The practice of infanticide has taken many forms, such as child sacrifice to supernatural figures or forces, as allegedly practiced in ancient [[Carthage]]. However, many societies regarded child sacrifice as morally repugnant and did not consider infanticide a [[religion|religious]] or spiritual act. The practice has become less common, but continues in areas of extremely high [[poverty]] and overpopulation, such as parts of China and India.<ref>[http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html Case Study: Female Infanticide]</ref> Female infants, then and now, are particularly vulnerable, in the practice known as [[Infanticide#Sex-selective abortion and infanticide|sex-selective infanticide]].
  
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Jewish practice condemned infanticide; [[Josephus]] wrote, "The Law orders all the offspring to be brought up, and forbids women either to cause abortion or to make away with the fetus." This practice was so eccentric that when [[Tacitus]], in Book 5 of his ''Histories,'' wrote of how "all their other customs, which are at once perverse and disgusting, owe their strength to their very badness," he included among them: "It is a crime among them to kill any newly-born infant."[http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/histories.5.v.html]
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Ancient [[Judaism|Jewish]] practice condemned infanticide. [[Josephus]] wrote, "The Law orders all the offspring to be brought up, and forbids women either to cause abortion or to make away with the fetus."<ref>Dietrich, Thomas. ''The Origin of Culture and Civilization''. Austin, TX: TurnKey Press, 2005, pp. 166.</ref> In Book 5 of his ''Histories,'' [[Tacitus]] wrote of how "…all their other customs, which are at once perverse and disgusting, owe their strength to their very badness" and included infanticide among them: "It is a crime among them to kill any newly-born infant."<ref>[http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/histories.5.v.html Tacitus, ''The Histories'']</ref>
  
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One frequent method of infanticide in antiquity was simply to [[child abandonment|abandon the infant]], leaving it to death by exposure — or whatever other fate befell it, commonly acknowledged to be [[Slavery|slavery]] and [[Prostitution#History|prostitution]]. Another method commonly used with female children was to severely malnourish them, resulting in a vastly increased risk of death by accident or disease. In some cultures, this is thought to have been an open and accepted practice, while in others it may have been practiced privately with the passive acceptance of society.
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One frequent method of infanticide in antiquity was simply to abandon the infant, leaving it to die by exposure or whatever other fate befell it, particularly [[slavery]] and [[prostitution]]. Another method commonly used with female children was to severely malnourish them, resulting in a vastly increased risk of death by accident or [[disease]].  
  
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Classic [[ancient Rome|Roman]] civilization can serve as an example of both aspects. In some periods of Roman history it was traditional practice for a newborn to be brought to the ''[[pater familias]]'', the family patriarch, who would then decide whether the child was to be kept and raised or left to death by exposure. The [[Twelve Tables]] of [[Roman law]] obliged the ''pater familias'' to put to death a child that was visibly deformed. Although infanticide became a capital offense in Roman law in [[374|AD 374]], offenders were rarely - if ever - prosecuted. A practice described in Roman texts was to smear the breast with [[opium]] residue so that a nursing baby would die with no outward cause.
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In some periods of [[ancient Rome|Roman]] history, parents traditionally brought their newborn to the ''pater familias'', the family patriarch, who would then decide whether the child was to be kept and raised or left to die by exposure. The [[Twelve Tables]] of [[Roman law]] obliged the ''pater familias'' to put to death a child with visible deformities. Although infanticide became a [[capital punishment|capital]] offense in Roman law in 374 <small>C.E.</small>, offenders were rarely, if ever, prosecuted. Roman texts describe the practice of smearing the breast with [[opium]] residue so that a nursing baby would die with no outward cause.
  
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From its earliest days, [[Christianity]] rejected the notion of infanticide. The [[Didache]] prescribed, "You shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born." So widely accepted was this teaching that [[Justin Martyr]], in his [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0126.htm|First Apology], defended the practice of not exposing children:
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From its earliest days, [[Christianity]] rejected the notion of infanticide. The ''[[Didache]]'' prescribed, "You shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born."<ref>[http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-roberts.html Didache: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles]</ref> So widely accepted was this teaching that [[Justin Martyr]], in his ''First Apology'', wrote:  
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:"But as for us, we have been taught that to expose newly-born children is the part of wicked men; and this we have been taught lest we should do any one an injury, and lest we should sin against God, first, because we see that almost all so exposed (not only the girls, but also the males) are brought up to prostitution."
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<blockquote>But as for us, we have been taught that to expose newly-born children is the part of wicked men; and this we have been taught lest we should do any one an injury, and lest we should sin against God, first, because we see that almost all so exposed (not only the girls, but also the males) are brought up to prostitution.... And again [we fear to expose children], lest some of them be not picked up, but die, and we become murderers. <ref>[http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-01/anf01-46.htm The ''First Apology'' of Justin]</ref></blockquote>
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He continued with the observation: 
 
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:"And again [we fear to expose children], lest some of them be not picked up, but die, and we become murderers"
 
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which reflects on the difficulty of determining how many exposed children actually died.
 
  
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This spread with Christianity; ''[[Njal's Saga]]'', the account of how Christianity came to Iceland, concludes with the simultaneous proscription of pagan worship and exposure of infants (as well as eating horsemeat).[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/njal100.html]
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The condemnation of infanticide spread with Christianity&mdash;[[Njal's Saga]], the account of how Christianity came to [[Iceland]], concludes with the proscription of [[pagan]] worship and exposure of infants.<ref>[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/njal100.html Iceland Accepts Christianity]</ref>
  
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==Explanations for the practice==
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Historical [[Inuit]] demographic studies show a large child sex imbalance, with sometimes nearly two males per female. Most [[anthropology|anthropologists]] attribute this, at least in part, to widespread female deselection in the form of infanticide. Theories suggest that some Inuit families practiced sex-selective infanticide to limit population growth, balance adult population ratios (due to the high mortality rates among adult males), a psychological preference for males, or because sons made a greater contribution to their parents' lives by sharing their [[hunting]] produce. <ref>Smith, Eric Alden and S. Abigail Smith. 1994. "Inuit Sex-Ratio Variation: Population Control, Ethnographic Error, or Parental Manipulation?" ''Current Anthropology'' 35:5 (Dec. 1994): 595-624.</ref>
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Many historians attribute infanticide primarily to economic factors, especially when a family has more children than it is able to support. However, this does not explain why infanticide would occur equally among rich and poor, nor why it would be as frequent during decadent periods of the [[Roman Empire]] as during earlier, more affluent, periods.
 
  
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A letter from a Roman citizen to his wife, dating from [[1 B.C.E.]], describes the casual nature with which Roman society often viewed infanticide:
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Infanticide occurred throughout the period of [[United States|U.S.]] [[slavery]] because some enslaved women thought it better to kill their children than to subject them to a life without freedom. The legal system did not cover slaves, so the rate of infanticide throughout antebellum history remains ambiguous. [[Toni Morrison|Toni Morrison's]] 1987 [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning novel, ''Beloved'', deals with the complexity of motherhood under chattel slavery and the controversial issue of infanticide therein.
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:"Know that I am still in [[Alexandria]]. <nowiki>[...]</nowiki> I ask and beg you to take good care of our baby son, and as soon as I received payment I shall send it up to you. If you are delivered <nowiki>[before I come home]</nowiki>, if it is a boy, keep it, if a girl, discard it." &ndash; Naphtali Lewis, Life in Egypt Under Roman Rule.
 
  
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Some anthropologists have suggested other causes for infanticide in non-State and non-industrialized societies.  Janet Siskind  has argued that female infanticide may be a form of [[population control]] in Amazonian societies. Population control is achieved not only by limiting the number of potential mothers; increased fighting among men for access to relatively scarce wives would also lead to a decline in population. Although additional research by [[Marvin Harris]] and [[William Divale]] supports this argument, it has been criticized as an example of environmental determinism. In the [[Solomon Islands]], some people reportedly kill their first-born child as a matter of custom — and then adopt a child from another island, a practice suggesting that the causes of infanticide are more complex.
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==Explanations for the practice==
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Other anthropologists have suggested a variety of largely culture-specific reasons for infanticide. In cultures where different value is placed on male and female children, [[sex-selective infanticide]] may be practiced simply to increase the proportion of children of the preferred sex, usually male. In cultures where childbearing is strongly tied to social structures, infants born outside of those structures (illegitimate children, children of incest, children of cross-caste relationships, and so forth) may be killed by family members to conceal or atone for the violation of [[taboo]].
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Many historians attribute infanticide primarily to economic factors, especially a family's inability to support a certain number of children. In times of [[famine]] or cases of extreme [[poverty]], parents may have had to choose which of their children would live and which would starve.  
  
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In times of famine or cases of extreme poverty, parents may have to choose which of their children will live and which will starve.  
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However, this does not explain why infanticide occurred equally among rich and poor, nor why it was as frequent during decadent periods of the [[Roman Empire]] as during earlier, more affluent periods. A letter from a Roman citizen to his wife, dating from 1 <small>B.C.E.</small>, described the casual nature with which Roman society often viewed infanticide: "Know that I am still in [[Alexandria]]. <nowiki>[...]</nowiki> I ask and beg you to take good care of our baby son <nowiki>[...]</nowiki> If you are delivered <nowiki>[before I come home]</nowiki>, if it is a boy, keep it, if a girl, discard it."<ref>Lewis, Naphtali. ''Life in Egypt Under Roman Rule''.</ref>
  
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A minority of academics subscribe to an alternate school of thought blaming the practice, both modern and historical, on psychological inability to raise children (see [[early infanticidal childrearing]]).
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Some [[anthropology|anthropologists]] have suggested other causes for infanticide in non-state and non-industrialized societies. Janet Siskind argued that female infanticide may be a form of population control in [[Amazon]]ian societies by limiting the number of potential mothers. Increased fighting among men for access to relatively scarce wives would also lead to a decline in population. Although additional research by [[Marvin Harris]] and William Divale supported this argument, it has been criticized as an example of environmental determinism. In the [[Solomon Islands]], some people reportedly kill their first-born child as a matter of [[custom]]. They then adopt a child from another island, a practice suggesting that complex and diverse factors contribute to infanticide.  
  
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Contemporary data suggests that modern infanticide is usually brought about by a combination of [[postpartum depression]] and a psychological unreadiness to raise children. It could also be exacerbated by [[schizophrenia]]. It is also attributed, in some cases, to the desire of unwed, underage parents to conceal their sexual relations and/or avoid the responsibility of childrearing.
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Other anthropologists have suggested a variety of largely culture-specific reasons for infanticide. In cultures where different value is placed on male and female children, [[Infanticide#Sex-selective infanticide|sex-selective infanticide]] may be practiced simply to increase the proportion of children of the preferred sex, usually male. In cultures where childbearing is strongly tied to [[social structure]]s, infants born outside of those structures (illegitimate children, children of [[incest]], children of cross-caste relationships, and so forth) may be killed by family members to conceal or atone for the violation of [[taboo]].
  
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In addition to debates over the morality of infanticide itself, there is some debate over the effects of infanticide on surviving children and the effects of childrearing in societies that also sanction infanticide. Some argue that the practice of infanticide in any widespread form causes enormous psychological damage in children. Some anthropologists studying societies that practice infanticide, however, have reported how loving the parents were to their children. (Harris and Divale's work on the relationship between female infanticide and warfare suggests that there are, however, extensive negative effects).
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An alternate school of thought blames the practice, both modern and historical, on psychological inability to raise children. Contemporary data suggests that modern infanticide is often brought about by a combination of [[postpartum depression]] and psychological unreadiness to raise children. It could also be exacerbated by [[schizophrenia]]. In some cases, unwed and underage parents practice infanticide to conceal their sexual relations and/or to avoid the responsibility of childrearing.
  
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In the absence of [[sex-selective abortion]], sex-selective infanticide can be deduced from very skewed birth statistics. The biologically normal birth ratio for [[homo sapiens]] is approximately 105 males per 100 females, and the life expectancy of females is slightly greater than males on average. When a society has an infant male to female ratio which is [[statistical significance|significantly]] higher than the biological norm, sex selection can usually be inferred. (However, new research has led to [http://slate.msn.com/id/2119402/ alternate explanations to this theory].)
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==Sex-selective infanticide==
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'''Sex-selective abortion''' is the practice of [[abortion|aborting]] a [[fetus]] after determining (usually by [[ultrasound]] but also rarely by [[amniocentesis]] or another procedure) that the fetus is of the undesired sex. '''Sex-selective infanticide''' is the practice of infanticide against an infant of the undesired sex. '''Sex-selective abandonment''' is the practice of giving an infant of the undesired sex up for [[adoption]].
  
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There have been some accusations that infanticide occurs in [[China]] due to the [[one-child policy]], although most demographers do not believe that the practice is widespread. In the 1990s, a certain stretch of the Yangtze River was known to be a common site of infanticide by drowning, until government projects made access to it more difficult. Others assert that China has twenty-five million fewer girl children than expected, but sex-selective abortion can partially be to blame. The illegal use of ultrasound is widespread in China, and itinerant sonographers with plain vans in parking lots offer inexpensive sonographs to determine the sex of a fetus.
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[[Family]] sex selection is most common in societies where a large [[dowry]] must be paid upon [[marriage]]. In these societies, families tend to favor males, as they do not have to pay a dowry. Some [[hunter-gatherer]]s also practice female infanticide because males have a higher death rate than females. Parents may wish for a male child because, in many [[culture]]s, only a male will carry on the family name (when a bride marries, she effectively becomes a member of the groom's family).  
  
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There are 100 million missing women in the world partly due to infanticide.  China and India have the highest rates of missing women because of this, although sex-selective abortions are also to blame.  Girls are killed because of the low rewards of bringing them up. The dowry price, which can be up to 10 times what an average family in India makes a year, can leave a family in debt. Also when women or girls are married off they will no longer be able to support the family. On the other hand, a boy will support his family until they die, making bringing up a boy much more rewarding.
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In some countries, such as [[India]], it has been the case that parents sometimes kill their daughters because of the seemingly low economic rewards of raising them. The dowry price, which can be up to ten times what an average family in India makes a year, can leave a family in debt. In such cases, women or girls will no longer be able to support their parents once they marry. On the other hand, a boy will support his family until he dies, making bringing up a boy much more lucrative.
  
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==Infant euthanasia==
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Sex-selective abortion was rare before the late twentieth century because of the difficulty of determining the sex of the fetus before birth, but the advent of ultrasound made it much easier. However, prior to this, parents would alter family sex composition through infanticide. Sex-selective abortion is believed to be responsible for at least part of the skewed birth statistics in favor of males in mainland [[China]], [[India]], [[Taiwan]], and [[South Korea]]. Although the practice is often illegal, laws against it are extremely difficult to enforce because there is often no practical way to determine the parents' true [[motivation]] for seeking an abortion. The issue also remains difficult to study, since people almost always keep such information as private as possible.
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[[Joseph Fletcher]], founder of [[situational ethics]] and a [[euthanasia]] proponent, proposed that infanticide be permitted in cases of severe birth defects. He and philosopher [[Peter Singer]] have suggested that it is a logical extension of [[abortion]].  
 
  
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In the [[Netherlands]], euthanasia remains technically illegal for patients under the age of 12. However, Dr. [[Eduard Verhagen]] has documented several cases of infant euthanasia. Together with colleagues and prosecutors, he has developed a protocol to be followed in those cases. Prosecutors will refrain from pressing charges if this ''Groningen protocol'' is followed.
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===Prevalence===
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There are 100 million "missing" women in the world, partly due to infanticide. [[China]] and [[India]] have the highest rates because of sex-selective infanticide and [[abortion]].  
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==Sex-selective abortion and infanticide==
 
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'''Sex-selective abortion''' is the practice of [[abortion|aborting]] a fetus after determining (usually by [[ultrasound]] but also rarely by [[amniocentesis]] or another procedure) that the fetus is an undesired sex. '''Sex-selective infanticide''' is the practice of [[infanticide]] against infants of an undesired sex. '''Sex-selective abandonment''' is the practice of giving an infant of an undesired sex up for adoption.  Parents may also favor one sex over the other, in terms of resources, which could affect survival chances in a time of emergency. 
 
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Family sex selection is most common in societies where a large [[dowry]] must be payed on marriage.  In these societies, families favor males, as they do not have to pay a dowry on marriage. Some [[hunter gatherers]] also practice female infanticide, as males have a higher death rate than females.  Male deselection is less common than female deselection, but it would be expected to be seen most amongst poor people and in cultures with [[bride price]]. 
 
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Sex-selective abortion was rare before the late [[20th century]] because of the difficulty of determining the sex of the fetus before birth, but ultrasound has made it easy. However, prior to this, parents would alter family sex compostion through infanticide.  It is believed to be responsible for at least part of the skewed birth statistics in favor of males in [[mainland China]], [[India]], [[Taiwan]], and [[South Korea]]. Although the practice is often illegal, laws against it are extremely difficult to enforce because there is often no practical way to determine the parents' true motivation for seeking an abortion.  This also makes the issue a difficult one to study as people will never discuss the issue openly with strangers
 
  
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===Prevalence===
 
 
====China====
 
====China====
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Sex-selective infanticide appears to have been practiced at various times in Chinese history such as the [[Qing dynasty]] due to population pressures. Sex-selective infanticide appears to occur infrequently in [[China]] today. However, there is a strong imbalance in sex ratios in [[China]] as well as [[Japan]], [[India]], and [[Taiwan]], probably the result of sex-selective abortion. In addition, there does appear to be considerable sex-selective abandonment of infants to circumvent China's [[one child policy]].
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Population pressures throughout certain periods of Chinese history, such as the [[Qing dynasty]], contributed to sex-selective infanticide. Chinese [[tradition]] says that most parents want their first child to be male, thus making female deselection common. Many Chinese parents desire sons in order to ensure familial propagation, security for the elderly, labor provision, and performance of ancestral rites.  
  
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Female deselection is common in China: Chinese tradition says that most parents want their first child to be born a male. Female deselection is also due to deeply rooted [[Confucian]] traditions, and Chinese parents desire sons in order to make familial propagation, security for the elderly, labor provision, and performance of ancestral rites.  China calls the female deselection situation the "missing girl" problem.  
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Sex-selective abortion and abandonment likely contribute to the strong imbalance in sex ratios, especially in efforts to circumvent China's "one child policy." This problem of female deselection in China is known as the "missing girl" problem.  
  
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Parents may wish for a male child because in many cultures only a male will carry on the family name (traditionally when a bride gets married she effectively becomes a member of the groom's family), because they believe that a male is needed for work, or because they wish a male to earn an income needed to support the parents in their old age.
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In response to sex-selective abortions, mainland China has made it illegal for a physician to reveal the sex of a [[fetus]], but female infanticide lingers in China as a result of this law. Sex-selective abandonment, which is also prevalent in China, often serves as an alternative to self-selective abortion. About 95 percent of children in Chinese orphanages are able-bodied girls with living biological parents. Many abandoned Chinese girls have been adopted by Westerners and brought to the [[United States]] or [[Canada]], while others have been adopted domestically by childless Chinese couples.
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In response to sex-selective abortions, Mainland China has made it illegal for a physician to reveal the sex of a fetus, but female infanticide lingers in China as a result of this law. A non-abortive alternative is sex-selective abandonment, which is also prevalent in China. Most children (about 95 percent of them) in Chinese orphanages are able-bodied girls with living biological parents. These infants were abandoned by their biological parents and sent to orphanages for adoption just because they are female.  Many abandoned Chinese girls have been adopted by the westerners and brought to the United States or Canada, while some others have been adopted domestically by childless Chinese couples.
 
  
 
====India====
 
====India====
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The popularity of female deselection in India could be attributed to socioeconomic reasons. There is a belief by certain people in India that female children are inherently less worthy because they leave home and family when they marry. The high number of "[[dowry death]]s" (about 7,000 were reported in India in 2003), in which brides are murdered by their grooms' family members or commit suicide after suffering abuse and neglect, is also a major factor in gender preference.  
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[[sociology|Sociologists]] attribute the popularity of female deselection in India to three factors: economic utility, sociocultural utility, and religious functions. With respect to economic utility, studies indicate that sons are more likely than daughters to provide family farm labor, provide in or for a family business, earn wages, and give old-age support for parents. Upon marriage, a son makes a daughter-in-law an addition and asset to the family, as she provides additional assistance in household work and brings an economic reward through [[dowry]] payments. On the converse, daughters are married out of the family and merit an economic penalty through dowry charges.  
  
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Studies in India have indicated three factors of female deselection in India, which are the economic utility, sociocultural utility, and religious functions.  The factor as to economic utility is that studies indicate that sons are more likely than daughters to provide family farm labor or provide in or for a family business, earn wages, and give old-age support for parents.  Upon marriage, a son makes a daughter-in-law an addition and asset to the family providing additional assistance in household work  and brings an economic reward through dowry payments, while daughters get married off and merit an economic penalty through dowry charges.  The sociocultural utility factor of female deselection is that, as in China, in India's patrilineal and patriarchal system of families is that having at least one son is mandatory in order to continue the familial line, and many sons constitute additional status to families. The final factor of female deselection is the religious functions that only sons are allowed to provide, based on [[Hindu]] tradition. Hindu tradition says that sons are mandatory in order to kindle the [[funeral pyre]] of their late parents and to assist in the [[soul]] salvation.
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The sociocultural utility factor of female deselection in India resembles that in China. In India's patrilineal and [[patriarchy|patriarchal]] system of families, having at least one son is mandatory in order to continue the familial line, and a family with many sons garners additional value. Finally, [[Hindu]] tradition holds that only sons are allowed to provide, therefore justifying the religious function of female deselection. According to Hindu tradition, sons are mandatory because they kindle the funeral pyre of their late parents and assist in the [[soul]] salvation.
  
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It is currently illegal to determine the sex of a child during pregnanacy using ultra-sound scans. Laboratories are prohibited to reveal the fetus's sex during such scans. While most established labs comply with the law, determined persons can find a cheaper lab that would tell them what they want. Like the Chinese, the Indians also use the postnatal alternative, which is sex-selective infanticide. Some turn to people called Dais, traditional midwives, historically female, who offer female deselection, letting the baby boys live and killing the baby girls by giving them a sharp jerk, that is, turning them upside-down and snapping their spinal cords, and then declaring them stillborn.
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Because of the prevalence of sex-selective abortion as a method of female deselection, Indian law prohibits expectant parents from determining the sex their child using ultra-sound scans. Laboratories cannot reveal the fetus' sex during such scans. While most established labs comply with the law, determined persons can find a way to obtain the information. Like the Chinese, Indians also use the postnatal alternative, which is sex-selective infanticide. Some turn to people called ''Dais'', traditional midwives, historically female, who offer female deselection by turning newborn girls upside-down, snapping their spinal cords, and then declaring them stillborn.
  
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[[The Lancet]], a British medical journal, reported in early 2006 that there may have been close to 10 million female fetuses aborted in India over the past 20 years. This is extrapolated partly on the basis of reduction of female-to-male sex ratio from 945 per 1000 in 1991 to 927 per 1000 in 2001.  The female-to-male sex ratio is even lower in cases where a couple has had a previous daughter, but no sons, dropping to 759 to 1000 for the second child if the first was a daughter, and 719 to 1000 for a third child if the first two were both daughters.  This article has been challenged by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which said that it was misleading and failed to take into account restrictions imposed by the courts in 2001. However, some say that the laws have not been effectively upheld, and successful prosecutions remain non-existent. [http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=31794] Perhaps contrary to popular expectations, the study also reported that sex selective abortion is more common among the wealthy and among educated women than among the poor and the uneducated.  Part of this may be due to their being able to afford the associated expense. In addition, it is what would be expected by evolutionary theory, as a poor male is much less likely to reproduce than a poor female, while the reverse is true for wealthier people, as they have a high probability of attracting multiple females. [http://abcnews.go.com/International/CSM/story?id=1500343]
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==Ethical debates and consequences==
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Many [[philosophy|philosophers]] have grappled with the issue of whether or not [[abortion]] and infanticide carry the same [[moral]] implications, discussing what constitutes the "right to life." Joseph Fletcher, founder of "situational ethics" and a [[euthanasia]] proponent, proposed that infanticide be permitted in cases of severe birth defects. He considered infanticide, in certain cases, a logical extension of abortion.  
  
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====Inuit====
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Peter Singer, an Australian [[humanism|humanist]] and philosopher, holds that the right to physical integrity is grounded in a being's ability to [[suffering|suffer]], and the right to life is grounded in&mdash;among other things&mdash;the ability to plan and anticipate one's future. Since the unborn, infants, and severely disabled people lack the latter (but not the former) ability, he states that abortion, painless infanticide, and euthanasia can be justified in certain special circumstances, for instance a severely disabled infant whose life would cause suffering both to himself and to his parents.
  
−
Historical [[Inuit]] demographic studies often show a large child sex imbalance, with sometimes nearly two males per female. Most anthropologists attribute this at least in part to widespread female deselection in the form of infanticide. There have been theories that this is to limit population growth, balance adult population ratios (due to the high mortality rates among adult males), a psychological preference for males, or because sons made a greater contribution to their parents' lives by sharing their hunting produce. [Eric Alden Smith; S. Abigail Smith, Inuit Sex-Ratio Variation: Population Control, Ethnographic Error, or Parental Manipulation?, Current Anthropology Vol.35,No.5(Dec.,1994),pp. 595-624]
+
Michael Tooley, author of the controversial article "Abortion and Infanticide," outlined the conditions that give an organism the right to life. He contends that human [[fetus]]es and infants do not meet the right to life qualifications; therefore, abortion and infanticide do not defy basic moral principles.<ref>Tooley, Michael. Abortion and Infanticide, ''Philosophy and Public Affairs'' 2:1 (Autumn, 1972): 37-65.</ref> Tooley's philosophy prompts the most controversy because he does not differentiate infanticide from abortion and euthanasia. To him, an infant&mdash;healthy or suffering&mdash;has no more right to life than a fetus. However, the line between Tooley's "infant," with no right to life, and a "child," with this right, is one that cannot be drawn based on a clear event, in the way that birth transforms a fetus into an infant, and thus is inevitably controversial.
  
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===Other causes of sex ratio imbalances===
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Reporter Cara Cook refuted the convictions of the aforementioned philosophers in her article for the Concerned Women for America (CWA). Cook argued that a thin line separates abortion, infanticide, and physician-assisted [[suicide]]. She charged that the pro-life contingent inconsistently defines morality, as they consider abortion moral and infanticide immoral.<ref>[http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10830/CWA/life/index.htm Infanticide and Abortion: Fruits of the Same Tree]</ref>
−
Sex-selective abortion, infanticide, and abandonment may not be the only causes of sex ratio imbalances in the countries mentioned above.  Work by Emily Oster notes that women infected with [[hepatitis B]] [[virus]] are more likely to bear males than uninfected women. Her 2005 publication in The Journal of Political Economy suggests that in the past, the prevalence of hepatitis infection may have accounted for 75% of the sex ratio imbalance in China, 20% to 50% of the imbalance in the Middle East and Egypt, but less than 20% of the imbalance in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. This is an active area of research and these findings are controversial. Today's concentrations of sex ratios imbalances are regional -in North-West India or East China- and demographic -among women whose first child was a girl and do not correspond at all to known epidemiological features.
 
  
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===Consequences===
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In addition to debates over the morality of infanticide itself, there is some debate over the effects of infanticide on surviving children and the effects of childrearing in societies that also sanction infanticide. Some argue that the practice of infanticide in any widespread form causes enormous psychological damage to children. Some anthropologists studying societies that practice infanticide, however, have reported on the affection and love such parents display toward to their children. (Harris and Divale's work on the relationship between female infanticide and warfare suggests that there are, however, extensive negative effects).
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Gender-selective abortion and infanticide may make it more difficult for the larger-population gender of that generation to seek [[heterosexual]] romantic relationships.  
 
  
−
It is estimated that by 2020 there could be more than 35 million young 'surplus males' in China and 25 million in India, all of whom will be unable to find girlfriends or wives, assuming that they seek one.
+
Sex-selective abortion and infanticide may make it more difficult for the larger-population gender of that generation to seek heterosexual romantic relationships. According to demographic trends, by 2020 there could be more than 35 million young "surplus males" in [[China]] and 25 million in [[India]], all of whom would be unable to find girlfriends or wives, assuming that they seek one.
  
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==External links==
+
Regardless of the various justifications that have been presented, infanticide is clearly not the method of choice in accomplishing any goal that a humane society could support. Therefore, greater efforts should be made to eliminate those circumstances in which parents turn to infanticide as the solution to otherwise insurmountable difficulties.
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*[http://www.cicred.org/Eng/Seminars/FDA/Femaledeficit.htm ''A conference held in Singapore in December 2005 on female deficit in Asia'']
 
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*[http://www.singstat.gov.sg/ssn/feat/1Q95/feat.html Sex Selection at Birth; ''Statistics Singapore Newsletter, Vol 17 No.3 January 1995'']
 
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*[http://www.webcom.com/hrin/magazine/july96/invisgrl.html The Invisible Girl]
 
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*[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3990133/ MSNBC - No Girls Please - In parts of Asia, sexism is ingrained and gender selection often means murder]
 
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*[http://members.tripod.com/anantmithal/Itihaas/1999/It990919IsFemaleFetocideCivilized.html Akhilesh Mithal - Itihaas - Is Female Feticide Civilized?]
 
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*[http://morpheus.cc/myworld/issues/meiming.html It's a Girl! - Waiting to Die: The Babies Sacrificed for China's One Child Policy]
 
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*[http://www.alexandersanger.com/articles/2003_03_21.html Surplus Males and US/China Relations]
 
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*[http://chronicle.com/free/v50/i34/34a01401.htm ''A Dangerous Surplus of Sons?''] - An analysis of various studies of the lopsided sex ratios in Asian countries
 
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*[http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html Case study: Female Infanticide] in India and China
 
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*[http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidwp/pdf/grad_student/007.pdf Working paper by Emily Oster linking sex ratio imbalances to hepatitis B infection]
 
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*[http://www.portlethenacademy.aberdeenshire.sch.uk/depts/mod-studs/chinarep.htm S2 China Report - China: The Effects of the One Child Policy]
 
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*[http://www.unescap.org/esid/psis/population/database/poplaws/law%5Fchina/ch%5Frecord020.htm  Notification on Addressing in a Comprehensive Way the Issue of Rising Sex Ratio at Birth] a [[UNESCAP]] document
 
  
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==Infanticide in other species==
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==Notes==
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Other species, besides [[homo sapiens]], commit infanticide. One, perhaps surprising, example is the [[bottlenose dolphin]], which has been reported to kill its young through impact injuries [http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc98/7_18_98/fob1.htm].  Another example is hamsters eating their young.
+
<references/>
  
 +
==External links==
 +
All links retrieved March 2, 2018.
  
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*[http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html Case study: Female Infanticide] in India and China
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==External links==
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*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08001b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia on Infanticide]
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* [http://www.cf.ac.uk/hisar/teach/ancthist/projects/children/ An overview of ancient attitudes in the Roman Empire towards the death of children and infanticide]
 
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* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PCG/is_1_21/ai_n6155263 Journal of Population Research: Shortage of girls in China today]
 
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* [http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html Gendercide watch - Female Infanticide]
 
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* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08001b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia on Infanticide]
 
  
  
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{{Credit2|Infanticide|55427635|Sex-selective_abortion_and_infanticide|59494597|}}
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{{Credit3|Infanticide|55427635|Sex-selective_abortion_and_infanticide|59494597|Peter_Singer|61813263|}}

Latest revision as of 22:37, 5 February 2023


In sociology and biology, infanticide is the practice of intentionally causing the death of an infant of a given species by a member or members of the same species. Many past societies permitted certain forms of infanticide, whereas most modern societies consider the practice immoral and illegal. Nonetheless, the practice has continued in some poor countries because of tacit societal acceptance, and sometimes in Western countries (usually because of the parent's mental illness or penchant for violent behavior). However, such a practice is highly undesirable from many aspects, and human society would benefit from eliminating the circumstances leading to its continued use.

Definition

In sociology and biology, infanticide is the practice of intentionally causing the death of an infant of a given species by a member or members of the same species. Several species other than homo sapiens commit infanticide, particularly fish and reptiles. One perhaps surprising mammalian example is the bottlenose dolphin, which has been reported to kill its young through impact injuries.[1]

Birth distinguishes infanticide from abortion; killing an unborn child or fetus signifies abortion, but the act becomes infanticide upon birth. "Partial birth abortion," a non-medical term applied to some late-term abortion procedures, seems to blur the line between the two, hence the ensuing controversy and political debate. [2] As former U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan observed, "This is too close to infanticide." [3] While the general population remains divided over the morality of abortion, most people consider infanticide immoral.

In the United Kingdom, the Infanticide Act defines "infanticide" as a specific crime committed by the mother only during the first twelve months of her infant's life. This article deals with the broader notion of infanticide explained above.

Infanticide in history

Infanticide was common in most literate ancient cultures, including those of ancient Greece, Rome, India, China, and Japan. The practice of infanticide has taken many forms, such as child sacrifice to supernatural figures or forces, as allegedly practiced in ancient Carthage. However, many societies regarded child sacrifice as morally repugnant and did not consider infanticide a religious or spiritual act. The practice has become less common, but continues in areas of extremely high poverty and overpopulation, such as parts of China and India.[4] Female infants, then and now, are particularly vulnerable, in the practice known as sex-selective infanticide.

Ancient Jewish practice condemned infanticide. Josephus wrote, "The Law orders all the offspring to be brought up, and forbids women either to cause abortion or to make away with the fetus."[5] In Book 5 of his Histories, Tacitus wrote of how "…all their other customs, which are at once perverse and disgusting, owe their strength to their very badness" and included infanticide among them: "It is a crime among them to kill any newly-born infant."[6]

One frequent method of infanticide in antiquity was simply to abandon the infant, leaving it to die by exposure or whatever other fate befell it, particularly slavery and prostitution. Another method commonly used with female children was to severely malnourish them, resulting in a vastly increased risk of death by accident or disease.

In some periods of Roman history, parents traditionally brought their newborn to the pater familias, the family patriarch, who would then decide whether the child was to be kept and raised or left to die by exposure. The Twelve Tables of Roman law obliged the pater familias to put to death a child with visible deformities. Although infanticide became a capital offense in Roman law in 374 C.E., offenders were rarely, if ever, prosecuted. Roman texts describe the practice of smearing the breast with opium residue so that a nursing baby would die with no outward cause.

From its earliest days, Christianity rejected the notion of infanticide. The Didache prescribed, "You shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born."[7] So widely accepted was this teaching that Justin Martyr, in his First Apology, wrote:

But as for us, we have been taught that to expose newly-born children is the part of wicked men; and this we have been taught lest we should do any one an injury, and lest we should sin against God, first, because we see that almost all so exposed (not only the girls, but also the males) are brought up to prostitution.... And again [we fear to expose children], lest some of them be not picked up, but die, and we become murderers. [8]

The condemnation of infanticide spread with Christianity—Njal's Saga, the account of how Christianity came to Iceland, concludes with the proscription of pagan worship and exposure of infants.[9]

Historical Inuit demographic studies show a large child sex imbalance, with sometimes nearly two males per female. Most anthropologists attribute this, at least in part, to widespread female deselection in the form of infanticide. Theories suggest that some Inuit families practiced sex-selective infanticide to limit population growth, balance adult population ratios (due to the high mortality rates among adult males), a psychological preference for males, or because sons made a greater contribution to their parents' lives by sharing their hunting produce. [10]

Infanticide occurred throughout the period of U.S. slavery because some enslaved women thought it better to kill their children than to subject them to a life without freedom. The legal system did not cover slaves, so the rate of infanticide throughout antebellum history remains ambiguous. Toni Morrison's 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Beloved, deals with the complexity of motherhood under chattel slavery and the controversial issue of infanticide therein.

Explanations for the practice

Many historians attribute infanticide primarily to economic factors, especially a family's inability to support a certain number of children. In times of famine or cases of extreme poverty, parents may have had to choose which of their children would live and which would starve.

However, this does not explain why infanticide occurred equally among rich and poor, nor why it was as frequent during decadent periods of the Roman Empire as during earlier, more affluent periods. A letter from a Roman citizen to his wife, dating from 1 B.C.E., described the casual nature with which Roman society often viewed infanticide: "Know that I am still in Alexandria. [...] I ask and beg you to take good care of our baby son [...] If you are delivered [before I come home], if it is a boy, keep it, if a girl, discard it."[11]

Some anthropologists have suggested other causes for infanticide in non-state and non-industrialized societies. Janet Siskind argued that female infanticide may be a form of population control in Amazonian societies by limiting the number of potential mothers. Increased fighting among men for access to relatively scarce wives would also lead to a decline in population. Although additional research by Marvin Harris and William Divale supported this argument, it has been criticized as an example of environmental determinism. In the Solomon Islands, some people reportedly kill their first-born child as a matter of custom. They then adopt a child from another island, a practice suggesting that complex and diverse factors contribute to infanticide.

Other anthropologists have suggested a variety of largely culture-specific reasons for infanticide. In cultures where different value is placed on male and female children, sex-selective infanticide may be practiced simply to increase the proportion of children of the preferred sex, usually male. In cultures where childbearing is strongly tied to social structures, infants born outside of those structures (illegitimate children, children of incest, children of cross-caste relationships, and so forth) may be killed by family members to conceal or atone for the violation of taboo.

An alternate school of thought blames the practice, both modern and historical, on psychological inability to raise children. Contemporary data suggests that modern infanticide is often brought about by a combination of postpartum depression and psychological unreadiness to raise children. It could also be exacerbated by schizophrenia. In some cases, unwed and underage parents practice infanticide to conceal their sexual relations and/or to avoid the responsibility of childrearing.

Sex-selective infanticide

Sex-selective abortion is the practice of aborting a fetus after determining (usually by ultrasound but also rarely by amniocentesis or another procedure) that the fetus is of the undesired sex. Sex-selective infanticide is the practice of infanticide against an infant of the undesired sex. Sex-selective abandonment is the practice of giving an infant of the undesired sex up for adoption.

Family sex selection is most common in societies where a large dowry must be paid upon marriage. In these societies, families tend to favor males, as they do not have to pay a dowry. Some hunter-gatherers also practice female infanticide because males have a higher death rate than females. Parents may wish for a male child because, in many cultures, only a male will carry on the family name (when a bride marries, she effectively becomes a member of the groom's family).

In some countries, such as India, it has been the case that parents sometimes kill their daughters because of the seemingly low economic rewards of raising them. The dowry price, which can be up to ten times what an average family in India makes a year, can leave a family in debt. In such cases, women or girls will no longer be able to support their parents once they marry. On the other hand, a boy will support his family until he dies, making bringing up a boy much more lucrative.

Sex-selective abortion was rare before the late twentieth century because of the difficulty of determining the sex of the fetus before birth, but the advent of ultrasound made it much easier. However, prior to this, parents would alter family sex composition through infanticide. Sex-selective abortion is believed to be responsible for at least part of the skewed birth statistics in favor of males in mainland China, India, Taiwan, and South Korea. Although the practice is often illegal, laws against it are extremely difficult to enforce because there is often no practical way to determine the parents' true motivation for seeking an abortion. The issue also remains difficult to study, since people almost always keep such information as private as possible.

Prevalence

There are 100 million "missing" women in the world, partly due to infanticide. China and India have the highest rates because of sex-selective infanticide and abortion.

China

Population pressures throughout certain periods of Chinese history, such as the Qing dynasty, contributed to sex-selective infanticide. Chinese tradition says that most parents want their first child to be male, thus making female deselection common. Many Chinese parents desire sons in order to ensure familial propagation, security for the elderly, labor provision, and performance of ancestral rites.

Sex-selective abortion and abandonment likely contribute to the strong imbalance in sex ratios, especially in efforts to circumvent China's "one child policy." This problem of female deselection in China is known as the "missing girl" problem.

In response to sex-selective abortions, mainland China has made it illegal for a physician to reveal the sex of a fetus, but female infanticide lingers in China as a result of this law. Sex-selective abandonment, which is also prevalent in China, often serves as an alternative to self-selective abortion. About 95 percent of children in Chinese orphanages are able-bodied girls with living biological parents. Many abandoned Chinese girls have been adopted by Westerners and brought to the United States or Canada, while others have been adopted domestically by childless Chinese couples.

India

Sociologists attribute the popularity of female deselection in India to three factors: economic utility, sociocultural utility, and religious functions. With respect to economic utility, studies indicate that sons are more likely than daughters to provide family farm labor, provide in or for a family business, earn wages, and give old-age support for parents. Upon marriage, a son makes a daughter-in-law an addition and asset to the family, as she provides additional assistance in household work and brings an economic reward through dowry payments. On the converse, daughters are married out of the family and merit an economic penalty through dowry charges.

The sociocultural utility factor of female deselection in India resembles that in China. In India's patrilineal and patriarchal system of families, having at least one son is mandatory in order to continue the familial line, and a family with many sons garners additional value. Finally, Hindu tradition holds that only sons are allowed to provide, therefore justifying the religious function of female deselection. According to Hindu tradition, sons are mandatory because they kindle the funeral pyre of their late parents and assist in the soul salvation.

Because of the prevalence of sex-selective abortion as a method of female deselection, Indian law prohibits expectant parents from determining the sex their child using ultra-sound scans. Laboratories cannot reveal the fetus' sex during such scans. While most established labs comply with the law, determined persons can find a way to obtain the information. Like the Chinese, Indians also use the postnatal alternative, which is sex-selective infanticide. Some turn to people called Dais, traditional midwives, historically female, who offer female deselection by turning newborn girls upside-down, snapping their spinal cords, and then declaring them stillborn.

Ethical debates and consequences

Many philosophers have grappled with the issue of whether or not abortion and infanticide carry the same moral implications, discussing what constitutes the "right to life." Joseph Fletcher, founder of "situational ethics" and a euthanasia proponent, proposed that infanticide be permitted in cases of severe birth defects. He considered infanticide, in certain cases, a logical extension of abortion.

Peter Singer, an Australian humanist and philosopher, holds that the right to physical integrity is grounded in a being's ability to suffer, and the right to life is grounded in—among other things—the ability to plan and anticipate one's future. Since the unborn, infants, and severely disabled people lack the latter (but not the former) ability, he states that abortion, painless infanticide, and euthanasia can be justified in certain special circumstances, for instance a severely disabled infant whose life would cause suffering both to himself and to his parents.

Michael Tooley, author of the controversial article "Abortion and Infanticide," outlined the conditions that give an organism the right to life. He contends that human fetuses and infants do not meet the right to life qualifications; therefore, abortion and infanticide do not defy basic moral principles.[12] Tooley's philosophy prompts the most controversy because he does not differentiate infanticide from abortion and euthanasia. To him, an infant—healthy or suffering—has no more right to life than a fetus. However, the line between Tooley's "infant," with no right to life, and a "child," with this right, is one that cannot be drawn based on a clear event, in the way that birth transforms a fetus into an infant, and thus is inevitably controversial.

Reporter Cara Cook refuted the convictions of the aforementioned philosophers in her article for the Concerned Women for America (CWA). Cook argued that a thin line separates abortion, infanticide, and physician-assisted suicide. She charged that the pro-life contingent inconsistently defines morality, as they consider abortion moral and infanticide immoral.[13]

In addition to debates over the morality of infanticide itself, there is some debate over the effects of infanticide on surviving children and the effects of childrearing in societies that also sanction infanticide. Some argue that the practice of infanticide in any widespread form causes enormous psychological damage to children. Some anthropologists studying societies that practice infanticide, however, have reported on the affection and love such parents display toward to their children. (Harris and Divale's work on the relationship between female infanticide and warfare suggests that there are, however, extensive negative effects).

Sex-selective abortion and infanticide may make it more difficult for the larger-population gender of that generation to seek heterosexual romantic relationships. According to demographic trends, by 2020 there could be more than 35 million young "surplus males" in China and 25 million in India, all of whom would be unable to find girlfriends or wives, assuming that they seek one.

Regardless of the various justifications that have been presented, infanticide is clearly not the method of choice in accomplishing any goal that a humane society could support. Therefore, greater efforts should be made to eliminate those circumstances in which parents turn to infanticide as the solution to otherwise insurmountable difficulties.

Notes

  1. ↑ Infanticide Reported in Dolphins
  2. ↑ About.com's Pros & Cons of Partial Birth Abortion
  3. ↑ Partial-Birth Abortion - A Chink In The Pro-Abortion Armor
  4. ↑ Case Study: Female Infanticide
  5. ↑ Dietrich, Thomas. The Origin of Culture and Civilization. Austin, TX: TurnKey Press, 2005, pp. 166.
  6. ↑ Tacitus, The Histories
  7. ↑ Didache: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles
  8. ↑ The First Apology of Justin
  9. ↑ Iceland Accepts Christianity
  10. ↑ Smith, Eric Alden and S. Abigail Smith. 1994. "Inuit Sex-Ratio Variation: Population Control, Ethnographic Error, or Parental Manipulation?" Current Anthropology 35:5 (Dec. 1994): 595-624.
  11. ↑ Lewis, Naphtali. Life in Egypt Under Roman Rule.
  12. ↑ Tooley, Michael. Abortion and Infanticide, Philosophy and Public Affairs 2:1 (Autumn, 1972): 37-65.
  13. ↑ Infanticide and Abortion: Fruits of the Same Tree

External links

All links retrieved March 2, 2018.


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