infanticide

Killing of the newborn. Infanticide has often been interpreted as a primitive method of birth control and a means of ridding a group of its weak or undesirable children; but most societies actively welcome children and put them to death (or allow them to die) only under exceptional circumstances—e.g., when there is little or no likelihood of being able to provide support. As late as the 18th century in European countries unwanted infants were disposed of by abandonment and exposure. Firstborn sacrifice, or the offering of one’s most precious possession to the deities, is known from the Bible and from the histories of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and India.

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