A woman “illegally pregnant” with her second child in Yunnan, China says she feels pressured to have an illegal abortion at eight months, so that her husband will not lose his job as a police officer. Her struggle has given rise to an outcry against the One Child Policy in China, which will turn 35 on September 25th.
According to reports, the 41-year-old woman, who will only identify herself as by her surname, Chen, stated, “I am fearful. If my husband believes I must abort the child, there’s nothing I can do . . . I am worried he would lose his job even after we lose the baby, if the situation gets messy.”
Wen Xueping, a Yunnan Family Planning Official, stated, “No way will we force them to have an abortion.” He did, however, warn of the consequences of having a child without permission. These consequences can include heavy fines and job loss for government employees, such as Chen’s husband.
Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, stated, “The statement of the Family Planning Official is typical Chinese communist double-speak. On one hand, he says that they will not force Chen to have an abortion. On the other hand, the hefty fines he warns of can be ten times a person’s annual salary. If a couple cannot afford to pay this ‘terror fine,’ then they have no choice but an abortion. This constitutes a forced abortion.”
On June 12, 2012, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers broke to the West news of the forced abortion of Feng Jianmei, posting a heartbreaking photo of Feng with her daughter, forcibly aborted at seven months. [Warning, graphic image.] The brutality of this violence unleashed a firestorm of criticism against forced abortion under China’s One Child Policy.
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The fact that Chen is now being forced to choose between abortion at 8 months and the loss of her husband’s job demonstrates that forced abortion continues to this day under China’s One Child Policy. Headlines have stated that the Policy has been ‘relaxed,’ allowing some couples to have a second child. But in the urban areas, if both members of a couple have siblings, these couples still can have only one child. If they get pregnant without a Birth Permit, they may still be subject to forced abortion.
The anguish of Chen dramatically demonstrates that China’s forced abortion policy needs to be abolished now. Forced abortion is official government rape. The One Child Policy – having ‘prevented’ 400 million births, too often by forced abortion — has caused more violence against women and girls than any other official policy on earth and any other official policy in history. This heinous crime against women must end.
LifeNews.com Note: Reggie Littlejohn is the Founder and President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers. She serves as an expert on China’s One-Child Policy for Human Rights Without Frontiers, in Belgium, as well as the China Aid Association.
