Sep 18, 2008 / 20:42 pm
Following threats of legal action, the internet search giants Microsoft and Google have pulled advertisements for sex determination products and other services illegal in India. Because of cultural traditions, many Indians prefer boys to girls and selectively abort unborn children shown to be female.
Last month India’s Supreme Court had asked the two companies, as well as Yahoo, to respond to a complaint filed by activist Sabu George that the companies were advertising do-it-yourself kits and expensive genetic testing to determine an unborn baby’s gender, Agence France Presse reports. The products have not been proven accurate or safe.
Activists charged that the products hurt efforts to decrease the large-scale abortion of girls.
Their protests were apparently effective.