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CHINESE AUTHORITIES CONFIRMED today that a woman was forced to abort seven months into her pregnancy, several days after her plight came to light when images of her baby’s corpse were posted online.
Rights groups have blamed authorities in north China’s Shaanxi province for forcing Feng Jianmei to abort her pregnancy because she failed to pay a hefty fine for exceeding China’s strict “one-child” population control policy.
The Shaanxi provincial government said in a statement that a preliminary probe had confirmed the case was “basically true”, and the investigators have recommended action be taken against the perpetrators.
“This is a serious violation of the National Population and Family Planning Commission’s policies, jeopardises the population control work and has caused uneasiness in society,” the provincial government said on its website.
The government did not pinpoint exactly who the perpetrators were, but vowed to avoid a repeat of such a case, which it said was against regulations in effect since 2001 banning late-term abortions.
Chinese web users have reacted in anger to the abortion, with one comparing it to acts perpetrated by “Japanese devils and Nazis”, after photos online showed Feng lying on a hospital bed next to the blood-smeared body of her baby.
A relative told AFP on Wednesday that Feng and her husband had opposed the termination.
An official at the national family planning commission who declined to be named said earlier that the commission viewed the matter as “serious and important” and that the probe was being handled at the “top level”.
China has implemented its draconian family planning policy since the late 1970s in an effort to control a population that has grown to 1.3 billion people, the world’s largest.
Under the policy, urban families are generally allowed to have one child, while rural families can give birth to two children if the first is a girl. They have to pay a fine if they contravene the rules.
Rights groups say that as a result of the policy, thousands of women have been forced by authorities to terminate their pregnancies.
Blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who recently left China for the United States after fleeing house arrest, was once jailed after angering local officials for bringing to light hundreds of forced abortions.
Official statistics show that since the start of the policy, the number of abortions peaked in 1983, with a total of 14.37 million terminations that year.
The US said Monday it has expressed opposition to China’s one-child policy after activists reported that a five-month-pregnant woman faces an imminent forced abortion in a separate case.
“We make no secret that the United States strongly oppose all aspects of China’s coercive birth limitation policies, including forced abortion and sterilisation, and we always raise these issues with the Chinese government,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
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And we think we have lost our sovereignty and freedoms!
Barbaric behavior!
Thanks to The Journal, All Girls Allowed, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers and others for giving these cases media attention.
We need to keep the international pressure up — e-mail the Chinese embassy in Dublin chinaemb_ie@mfa.gov.cn or call them on 01 269 1707. All it takes is two minutes.
Let them know in no uncertain terms that forced abortion is completely abhorrent practice and must end!!
I met Reggie Littlejohn in Brussels 2 yrs ago. Fantastic woman.
It must be horrible to live in a country which doesn’t let women control their own bodies and decide how many children they want to have….
Nick Beard, that’s right; the real victim here is you and not the baby that was killed
I think the woman is the victim, but it must be an absolute coincidence that you didn’t mention that. Funny, I think the oversight speaks volumes.
If you live in Ireland Nick, you live in just such a country.
Well Nick, shall we examine your own oversights?
1. You didn’t mention the mother. You used her trauma to draw attention to your own “plight” and score political points. She obviously feels that her baby was a baby. You don’t. But you didn’t let this crucial divergence of opinion stop you from using her. How selfish can you get?
2. You didn’t mention the baby. Maybe I’m insane, but isn’t the person who got killed kinda a victim?
3. You didn’t mention the father who has been bereaved just like his wife. Isn’t that a zany thought? Having sympathy for a man? Lol!! Can you imagine!?? We all know fathers are as disposable as 7 month old foetuses, and must never be considered.
@Chuck its spelt fetus. that poor woman is the victim. my heart breaks for her and I hope she receives some compensation and a chance to emigrate – IF she wants to
I have every sympathy for the man. Even if he didn’t have to go through a physical trauma, their whole family (including the first child) has been through a lot. I guess the difference is unlike you, I (and most Journal readers apparently) feel horrible for every woman whose body is co-opted against her will.
Well done Teresa, you’re the first person to read this and think; “Compo!”
Nick, if you’re so full of sympathy then why are you co-opting the horrible thing that was done to her? You have no sympathy for her at all, you directed it all at yourself. As I outlined, your oversights betray you
But that’s ok ‘cos it was just a cluster of cells, right? http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/shang_kenneth/forced-abortion-shaanxi.jpg I bet attitudes like yours towards her baby wll make her feel better in time
Yawn. Nope, pro choice but think there’s a decent argument for it being a person. But hey, argue with your strawman, it’s a hell of a lot more accommodating.
That’s just sick. Hope that poor woman will be okay.
A great bunch of lads. And people have no problem ‘doing business’ with that place. It’s sickening how their many human rights abuses are seemingly overlooked by the Western world.. The only difference between China and North Korea is that North Korea aren’t likely to invest vast amounts of money in our interests any time soon. Cognitive dissonance is a funny old thing.
We do a lot more business with the States who are just as bad if not worse.
The sheer disregard for human life, for basic human rights in China is truly stunning. It’s basically a corporatist fascist state. What always gets me, is when people on the left defend it, and say America is worse. I have never seen the sheer materialism and robber baron capitalism that defines Chinese society.
China is hell for the poor, hell for the rural peasant. Hell for workers, who have absolutely no rights, who are horrifically abused and used.
America may have massive problems but it is a 100 times better to be poor in America than in China.
Well said Fagan. China is not communist; it’s fascist.
Who on the left defends China? No one. But that doesn’t suit your argument because people like to imply that Communist China (note the capital C) is a socialist/communist state when it in fact is nothing of the sort. Socialism is about equality and democracy, nothing like that exists in China or ever has.
Oh my god couldn’t read that story, abort at 7 months? why not wait till the child was born and slit its throat not much difference. Lots of babies are delivered at 7 months and go on to lead lives as full as the rest of us. How can this be allowed to happen? Why isnt every government in the world shouting about this. Going on about that scruff mick wallaces tax, they cant/wont fire him from the dail. This is something that they could actually do to make a difference but hey they cant be bothered cause China are our friends. Its all about the money
Wow, the issue is people not being able to control their own bodies, not late term abortions! Children are being used as human shields, physically and sexually abused and tortured in Syria, get some perspective about what governments should be shouting about. Late term abortions, anywhere, are a secondary worry.
I do not agree with abortion as a birth control method and certainly not forced abortion, so what I want to mention is not that relevant to this story. I find it strange that world population growth isn’t discussed (and tackled) more. In my 44yrs on this planet the world population has doubled to over 7billion. The world does not have inexhaustable resources and at some stage human population growth will have to be slowed or contained.
It would be much more preferable to tackle this major issue in a controled and logical way, than to allow it to spiral out of control. I don’t have the answer but it doesn’t seem as if anyone is looking for it.
Have to agree John, its the elephant in the room,
Everyone knows world population as it continuous to grow is not sustainable but yet its ignored and nobody is willing to discuss it and come up with solution,
OK the subject its somewhat off-topic for this story but it needs to be addressed sooner rather then later.
While I don’t agree with many of the actions China takes they atleast are trying to deal with the issue of massive population growth and it has reduced their population making sure that they can actually feed and house people in the country without the country going bankrupt and people starving to death.
While it’s true that every time the population doubles, the time it has taken to double is roughly halved, you also have to look at where it’s happening. In the West we had our population explosions around times of industrial and agricultural development and urbanisation, after which it flattens out. No reason to believe the same won’t happen after the developing world goes through a similar process.
Heart breaking story!
What planet are you on slattery if you think the us is as bad?
New laws introduced in some US states now insist upon doctors showing women who want abortions pictures of their baby’s fetus. They’re not too far off.
Well, it’s not as extreme in America, but it’s just as much guilty of violating people’s human rights over there. There’s the “state sanctioned rape” (women who want abortions have to submit to vaginal probing – it’s pretty horrible) in Virginia right now – and all the other crazy ways they’re trying too restrict abortion access.
Then there’s what Martin’s talking about – a little less terrifying and awful but still pretty disgraceful.
And I dunno, but personally I’m not in favour of doing business with a country in which some states have the death penalty…
Ah, come on, how is that “nearly as bad”? Objectionable, maybe. Insenstive and probably futile. But as bad as this poor woman had to go through and will continue to go through for the rest of her life?
That is a sad story. However a simpler one child law could be world wide in 100 of years time. Population is increasing at a fast rate and there only so much food we can produce. So its going to be interesting for our yet to be born grandchildren how they will sort it out .
Population is pretty much only increasing in countries which have either large emigrant populations (like America, whose population would be falling otherwise) or countries which have poor educational standards or fewer rights for women as well as very little access to contraceptives or access to healthcare in general. So I’d imagine first world countries would bring in stricter immigration laws before bringing in a one child policy. Hopefully the countries with population problems will find a way to implement the reasonably obvious solution at some point and we can get our population under control.
What a bunch of animals! I’d be pro choice but at 7 months that unborn child was essentially a nearly formed person, premature babies are born and survive at that age. Is that business hub in Athlone still going ahead? …I’m not sure we really want it.
Forced abortion is as bad as forced pregnancy.
A woman should have the right to control all of her reproductive choices, and that includes the choice to continue a pregnancy a term if she wishes – without coercion to do otherwise.
finally a point where pro lifers and pro choicers can agree and fight together
How many abortions in the west do you think are “forced”, whether pressure from the family, father or worse?
How many continued pregnancies in the west are “forced” whether pressure from the family, father or worse? Remember the Irish Times article mentioned that a lot of women who wish to have terminations for medical reasons encounter a lot of family pressure not to. It doesn’t make it right simply because you agree with it.
Far less than the number of forced pregnancies due to pressure from family, male partners, and restrictive legal situations.
Eitherway, it’s still an abuse of women’s bodies. And while I take your point that being against forced abortion is something that pro and anti choice people can agree on, it doesn’t take away from the fact that anti-choice people are quite happy to allow the abuse of women’s bodies through the continuation of a ban on or restriction of abortion rights.
Ah Chuck, misleading vividness.. Ditch the fallacy..
It’s 100% accurate, Shanti
Actually it’s not..
The vast majority of abortions (we’re talking up between 80-90%) are induced chemically within the first 9-12 weeks. At which point the body could just as easily spontaneously abort or miscarry. It is induced miscarriage.
Later on its a surgical procedure in some cases, but you chose to pick on one tiny spotlight fallacy and tout it as though it applies in all cases. You chose the absolute worst case scenario and bandied it about as the norm. This is complete and utter logical fallacy.
1. Misleading vividness – dramatising to lend weight to an otherwise weak argument.
2. Fallacy of composition – the mistaken assumption that what may be true of some parts, is also true of the whole.
3. Spotlight fallacy, the mistaken notion that a certain aspect of a group or action that gets the most press is indicative of the whole group or process.
It would be the pro life campaign that would have shone this spotlight to begin with, it’s akin to tabloid journalism.. In fairness, logical fallacies are an excellent manipulation tool when used against those with no grounding in logic..
If you don’t believe me, check out the definitions of the 3 logical fallacies I have explained to you above and then come back and tell me your comment was warranted..
IT IS COMPLETELY A SHAME TO HEAR THIS STORY AS A CHINESE. I am the fifth child of my family and was born just after the child control policy was carried out. In order to keep me my mother almost quit her job and hide in a complete rural area until i was born there with a neighbor’s help. So to some extent i am very lucky. But when my mom took me back to the city i lived in the government took all the expensive stuff from my family like the only Color TV in the whole community in 1984.Besides my father was fired by the school he worked in b4 so he had to run his own small business afterwards :( So my mom always teasing me saying like im a very expensive child…:( really a hard time at the beginning.
Im not gonna say whether its good or bad for the birth control policy cos at least it stopped famine there that time and make lots of family lead relatively a decent life. but i think it should be the right time to allow the Chinese family for the second child cos the population almost stops growing lately. And for those millions of families who lost their only child in a late age like 50s, their family almost become a totally misery.
As for the fine it varies a lot that depends on your income and profession. if you work for the government , breaking this policy means losing your job. if you are running your own business they will fine you a large portion of you whole family wealth. From thousands of euros for the peasants to hundreds of thousands of euros for the rich.
Hi Wang. Really good to hear things from your personal perspective/experience. Appalling report. I read somewhere that the one child policy had been relaxed somewhat, but that if a family did have a second child or more, the family were totally alone regarding the health care, education etc of that child. There would be absolutely no state support available for that child. Was this information incorrect? I’m just curious. Your story and the plight of Chinese families, puts the Irish sorry mess more in perspective.
How much money was the fine? I think it could have been raised so these patents could keep their baby. All the money that’s wasted on shit in this world. Surely this fine is a drop in the ocean.
?
This inhumane treatment is from the Chinese who with the Russians back Assads reign of terror in Syria, and some clown here wants to promote a chinese commercial hub here in ireland , wake up people , these people have no value on human life they make george orwells book look like a disney movie,never to be trusted and avoid at all costs
I hear all sorts of stories like this coming from China yet we all want to trade with them and kiss their diplomats arse
This is an awful story, but the generalisation that a whole continent of people is somehow evil is totally hypocritcal. I wonder do the chinese read our stories on symphysiotomy, magdelene laundries and institutional child abuse. We are not so rosy ourselves over here.
I wonder,if the world as a whole,will ever be civilised? This is cruel and inhumane. Complete abuse of power. How much was the fine??
Where’s yer wan Ciara Ni Mhuircu today? She’s always great craic on these type of debates
She says this;
The desires of a woman > everything else in the entire world
Which Chuck and the Chinese government disagree with.
You have plenty in common with the Chinese. You both think aborting at 7 months is no big deal
Where did Nick say that? I don’t see anything suggesting that..
Mind you, you seem to be taking to speak on other posters behalves here..
Perhaps we should turn the tables..
“How dare Ciara and Nick have their own minds and wish for autonomy over their own bodies, don’t these girls know their place!?”
Now, unless that is actually how you feel, which I am not actually suggesting as I do not know you outside of your contributions here, I would expect you to be a bit offended by the insinuation that you wish to oppress women.
That’s the thing about making straw man arguments and trying to put words in other peoples mouths.. The person who comes out looking worse is actually you.
Shanti,best not responding to chuck. He seems to be in a world of his own,taking your words and twisting them then telling you you said something which you didn’t. Classic example is nicks so called opinion above. Ignore and move on
Well if Chuck expects to be taken seriously then he’ll need to work on his debating skills.. At least now he has no excuse. He has been shown the flaws in his argument, let’s see how he chooses to integrate that.. His response will either make him look like he was perhaps simply ignorant to these aspects of logic or that he’s a completely closed mind incapable of learning from mistakes..
Or he might just shut the f@#$ up :)
it must be the worst society on the planet child labour and now this. fu@kin sickining its there government that should be aborted
Been to India lately?
Now that’s sick to be honest if the want a one only child agenda then have females sterilized don’t abort a baby at 7 months unless there was a valid medical reason to do so!!!!!
How much is the fine?
This is such a disgrace, made all the worse by the fact that the international community is not rising up in opposition to the One Child Policy. We need to support the women and families targeted by this terrible practice and make it clear to China that the international community will not tolerate such abuses of human rights.
The one child family is there for good reason and you should easily see that. Not going to say anything about the 7 month abortion because I’m trying my best not to think of it.
@I love lamp –
I’m afraid I don’t “easily” see why the One Child Policy was ever deemed a good idea. It has resulted in a society where neighbours are encouraged to spy on each other, report alleged “breaches” of the policy to the government, and engendered a climate of fear and terror throughout China. This case is just one of the many that take place on a regular basis in China. I’m only surprised that the Chinese government has actually admitted it.
As for the fact that you would prefer not think about the 7 month forced abortion, well, I don’t blame you. I’d rather not think about it myself but seeing as it is taking place all the time in China – and in many cases at 9 months – I think we all have a responsibility to support the campaign against the One Child Policy.
I disagree absolutely that it is there “for good reason”. It exists to control and subdue the Chinese people, especially it’s women, and for no other reason.
Cora and I disagree on a lot, but actually lamp, all evidence shows that the best way to reduce population is to give women education and make birth control widely available. A more educated workforce delays childbearing and has fewer children. Thus why Western Europe has barely replacement level population. The same aims could be achieved with FAR less violation of human rights.
Animals
I think the One Child Policy, and its inherent abuses against human rights throughout China, is something that can unite people regardless of whether they consider themselves to be “prolife” or “prochoice” on the substantive issue of abortion. No-one should be forced to have an abortion. It is inhumane in the extreme.
I would encourage everyone who was interested enough to read or comment on this story to visit Reggie Littlejohn’s website at http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org where you can sign a petition to have this Policy ended.
Reggie has done fantastic work in highlighting the tragedies of the One Child Policy to the rest of the world. She has also been a staunch supporter of Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese activist who was imprisoned by the Chinese government for opposing the Policy, and recently escaped to the USA where he now writes a column for the New York Times.
Who knows how many other stories like this one have gone unheard of, covered up by China’s media blackout?
It is up to those of us who are lucky enough to are not personally affected by these horror stories, to campaign on behalf of those Chinese families who cannot defend themselves.
And we can’t wait to do business with them.
“Chinese web ussers have reacted in anger”are Chinese people allowed to criticsise the goverment?Isn’t this how the USSR fell?
This State sponsored murder must be condemned by all States at a General Session of the United Nations. There is no difference whatever between Nazi murder of minorities within the concentration camps and this barbaric and disgusting practice. Great Chinese philosophers would shudder at suc barbaric behaviour. All participants are guilty of infanticide under order or not.
This has caused outrage in china in general and amongst the govt. the officials involved have been arrested and an inquiry is underway
What a sad story, and we (the international community) expect the Chinese to join a sanction on Syria ? Why would a country that is willing to “legally” kill over 14 million of its own innocent children be even remotely interested in protecting a few hundred/thousand in Syria ? In doing so they would also have to sanction themselves!! It scares me to think that these are the people who help dictate international law – the system is hypocritical !
Where was my reply…gosh
To Sascha,
yea that will happen if they didnt pay for their second child because they cudnt get their child registered..which means no public resources for this kid , so the parents have to pay for a lot more money for their kid schooling, health care, etc. So most of the parents choose to pay for their second kid there.
And yes it has been relaxed a bit. For instance if both of the couple are the only child from each family and then they can have two children in total if they want. For minority ethics in China, they can have as many children as they can in the countryside or two children in the city all the time , not fair tho.
Actually, forced abortion is also banned in China , so in big cities this case rarely happens.But in the countryside, still lots of the force abortion going on there because the leaders there are idiots like.It’s totally a criminal!!!
Thanks so much for the reply. The whole thing is an utter atrocity.
This is murder of an innocent baby, just the same as abortion is in any other part of the world forced or not. Strange how few comments there are condemning this! Pro choice silent on this.
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