Post by: Arie Jones
My name is Arie Jones and I am blessed to be in my first year of law school here at Regent Law. Over this last semester I have had the joy to work on a project for the Alliance defending freedom in India. The project I have been working on is designed to summarize all of the caselaw related to the Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostics Techniques (Prohibition of sex selection) act. This act was a response by the Indian government to address the widespread practice of foeticide, which is the mass abortion of female babies. Since the introduction of medical scanning technology the practice of sex selection has skyrocketed in many parts of India. This has led to a detrimental gender ratio gap. The act is a multifaceted approach to end the practice of foeticide by educating the public, holding medical practitioners accountable, and creating advisory boards to address the issues locally. Unforchunetly when the act was passed in 1994, the executive branches on both the federal and state level did very little to enforce the law. It has often been the judiciary that has led the way in ensuring that this important piece of legislation takes hold in the nation of India. Our role in this project has been to find all of the relevant cases related to this legislation and succinctly summarize that information. In doing so, the hope is that this resource will assist judges as they interpret this vital law. We have now finished summarizing all of the cases for the year of 2016 and will be moving forward to 2017.
Working on this project with my teammates has been such a joy. It has been so motivating refining research skills that may one day contribute to the preservation of life. I am reminded of the constant need to be vigilant in the protection of the vulnerable. It has been humbling to contribute to that end.
This post was written by a Center for Global Justice Student Staff Member. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.