sons.” The New York Times (May 30,n1985) carried a story stating: “A mothernwith two girls had amniocentesis andnfound out she was carrying anotherngirl. She had her aborted.” The feministnSojourner: The Woman’s Forumn(December 1988) reported: “A womannwho had tried all methods she knewnto conceive a female child found outnfrom chorionic villus sampling that shenwas carrying a boy. ‘I aborted him,’ shensaid.”nSince most states do not requirenreasons for abortions in their reportingnrequirements, no one knows just hownmany sex-selection abortions are performednannually in the United States.nHowever, the number of inquiries fornCVS, and the actual number of CVSnprocedures performed, gives some indicationnof the demand for sex-determinationnand subsequent abortions,nparticularly when the tests are performednon healthy mothers and babies.nWhile a number of obstetricians recommendnroutine ultrasound tests duringnpregnancy, and in the processndetermine the sex of the child, ultrasoundndoes not place the mother ornchild at risk, as do the genetics tests.nTherefore, requests for the early trimesternprenatal genetics proceduresnsuggest some other motive than merelynwanting to paint the baby’s room bluenor pink. Massachusetts General, fornexample, has received over one hun­n50/CHRONICLESnLIBERAL ARTSnPC FROM THE EASTndred inquiries in a single year for CVSntests. The Fort Worth Star Telegramnsays that “Eugene Pergament, MD, anChicago geneticist who does prenatalndiagnoses, says he knows of about fournwomen who have had abortions for sexnselection from his clinic alone.” ThenFree Lance Star reports “Dr. LairdnJackson of Philadelphia says that aboutn10 of the mothers visiting his prenatalndiagnostic clinic at Jefferson MedicalnCollege between 1984 and 1987 wentnon to have sex-selection abortions.”nThe Washington Times (February 13,n1987) carried a story in which Dr.nJoseph D. Schulman, director of thenGenetics and In-Vitro Fertilization Institutenin Fairfax, Virginia, said he hasnperformed the CVS procedure onnabout 1,400 women in the past twonyears: “Dr. Schulman and leaders ofnother government-sponsored premarketnstudies of CVS acknowledgednthat they’ve also had cases in which thenwomen have had the diagnostic testnsolely to find out the sex of their babynand, if it was not to their liking, havenaborted.”nMedical professionals such as Dr.nThomas McCormick of the Universitynof Washington School of Medicinencontend that CVS and other prenatalnand diagnostic tests should not be usednfor the purpose of gender-selectionnabortions. Dr. McCormick says thatnmedical science should be used fornIn the movie Mr. Baseball, Tom Selleck plays a former NewnYork Yankee who joins a Japanese team and clashes with thenOriental way of doing things. According to the New YorknTimes last November, the movie underwent changes afternMatsushita Electric Industrial Company acquired the studionproducing the movie. “When I originally signed on, thisnwas just a baseball movie,” said Selleck. “Then the studiongot taken over, and it took on new overtones.” Matsushitandenied any intervention in the creative independence of thenstudio. But the script was rewritten, “at least two jokes aboutnWorld War 11” were eliminated, Selleck’s character apologizesnfor his behavior, and he becomes more accepting ofnJapanese training. The original director was dropped, thenmovie’s budget reportedly doubled, and “Japanese comics,nplaywrights, academics and other experts” were consultednso as not “to insult the Japanese or the Americans.”nnndisease treatment, and “gender is not andisease.” Because the vast preponderancenof sex-selection abortions are performednon unborn females, some feministsndecry the irony that their “right”nto abortion is now being used as thenultimate, most violent form of sexndiscrimination. “So sure are some scientistsnthat sex’ selection of childrennwill soon be widespread that they arenworrying with psychologists and sociologistsnabout how it will affect the world.nAlmost everyone agrees that most parentsnwill opt for boys, at least at first,”nwrites Joan Beck in the AMA Newsn(November 22, 1976). AflFected, shensays, will be family patterns and developmentalncharacteristics derived fromnbirth order, and a disproportion in thenmale-female population balance. Innaddition, it is morally repugnant tonobstetricians who will be called upon tonperform sex-selection abortions fornwhat they consider to be a frivolousnreason.nThe practice is legal in nearly everynstate. Proscription of sex-selectionnabortions was one component of anpro-life law enacted in Pennsylvania,nbut legislation to outlaw the practice innVirginia was scorned by pro-choicenlegislators. In the absence of prohibitivenlaws, the trend is projected toncontinue and become a widely acceptednpractice. Andrew Kimbrell arguesnthat the time to stop the practice isnnow, while demand for them is low,nbefore people assume that fetal sexingnis a right, and before the testing becomesnan important source of revenuento prenatal diagnostic facilities.nThis, then, is the state of the feministndream of absolute control overnreproduction. The abysmal track recordnis illustrated in the unforeseenndamage done to women’s health andnfertility, unregulated commercializationnof conception and childbearing,nthe exploitation of desperate and poornwomen and their unborn offspring,nand the rates of technological failure.nIn Nineteen Eighty-Four, Utopian leadersnclaimed that “Freedom is Slavery.”nIn a supreme twist of irony, the Utopiannpromise of “reproductive freedom”nis delivering this very fate to millions ofnAmerican women.nAnne Marie Morgan is a newsnreporter living in Chesterfield,nVirginia.n