With the advance of pre-natal testing, it is possible for pregnant mothers to know not only the gender of their unborn child but also many other physical characteristics. For example, a physician could determine if the unborn child has certain medical conditions - diseases, malformations, organ problems, etc. This kind of pre-natal testing can be profoundly helpful in treating some conditions in utero or preparing parents and medical personnel for the birth of a child with potentially major medical challenges.

Unfortunately, in our abortion-on-demand culture, pre-natal testing is also used on behalf of medicalized 'search and destroy' missions in which children with disabilities are identified and killed in the womb by the violence of abortion.

So-called 'selective abortion' takes several different forms. In the case of multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.), doctors sometime identify one or several of the 'weaker' children and kill them to 'reduce' the number of children born.

Abortion is also used eugenically to discriminate against and kill pre-born babies who are handicapped. Wehn diagnosed prenatally, between 84% and 91% of Downs Syndrome babies are aborted in the United States (Source: www.physiciansforlife.org).  In England, those percentages are even higher.

In some places (areas of rural China and India, for example), 'selective abortion' is being used to kill unborn girls who are aborted for reasons of gender discrimination. These are called 'sex selection' abortions. For more information on sex-selective abortion, see US Census Bureau Reports on 'Son Preference' in Asia.