South Asian migration and abortion politics: socio-legal debates on sex-selection in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, and New Zealand

Sex selection is an emergent focus in debates, laws, and policies on abortion in Anglophone and European countries. Recent quantitative research purporting to find evidence of sex selection practices among Asian migrants in predominantly white population countries has reified stereotypical representations of migrants, cultural difference, and gender. This chapter, consolidating case explorations from Canada, United Kingdom, United States, and New Zealand, offers a transnational critique that goes beyond questions of prevalence and practices of sex selection to broader considerations of socio-cultural politics of migration and minority body politics. Grounded in feminist frameworks of reproductive governance, the comparative analysis—of similarities and salient differences—highlights that reproductive justice for diaspora women aligns neither with feminist struggles around sex selection “back home” nor with liberal abortion politics of choice in the West. The chapter concludes calling for a decolonial feminist framing that captures the unique experiences of diaspora women.<p></p>