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Monday, June 25, 2007

Forced abortions in China

No matter where you stand on the abortion issue, I think we can all agree that forcing someone to have an abortion, against their will, is horrendous. And yet this is something that has been occurring in China for many years, and continues to be an ongoing problem. Women up to 9 months pregnant have been forced to abort because they exceeded the 1 child per family quota for urban areas, or were unmarried. Although the family planning laws have relaxed somewhat, and some families are allowed a second child (for a fine) there are reports that, in spite of this, the practice continues because
"local officials must keep new births in their region down below a specified target or face fines and a poor career record. Family planning officials have been reported to use violence in many parts of China in order to keep births down. Couples who get pregnant after more than one child have complained of beatings and even house demolitions resulting from their breach of strict population guidelines."
China has also been forcing and coercing sterilization, as well, in their continuing efforts to stem the population growth. Beijing denies this brutal practice still exists but Chen Guangcheng, a blind human rights activist, was sentenced to 4 years in prison (in August, 2006) on trumped up charges.
"Chen's run-in with the government began after he filed an unprecedented class-action lawsuit against Linyi City health officials. The suit attacked officials for their inhuman treatment of women and their unborn children in the Shangdong province in what Chen viewed as violations in enforcing the "one-child-policy." Although Beijing's official policy now prohibits forced sterilizations and abortions, local government officials continue to apply the brutal methods to fulfill population control quotas mandated by Beijing. And Chen was recently "beaten by six fellow inmates at the behest of his jailers for insisting on his right to appeal his sentence and refusing to have his head shaved."
Chen was instrumental in exposing forced abortions and sterilization by local officials.

Despite China's promises to clean up its act regarding Human Rights (as a condition for being allowed to host the upcoming Olympic Games), the country has an extremely long way to go.

An interesting side-note regarding China's forced abortions:

Pat Robertson, in an interview on CNN in 2001, said: "I don't agree with it, but at the same time they've got 1.2 billion people and they don't know what to do."

The U.N. (through their UNFPA) continues to fund "population control programs including forced abortions in China and pro-abortion liberals consistently try to force the U.S. to fund UNFPA. Many of the tactics used by the UNFPA in China are also now being exported to other nations like Indonesia and Vietnam. For more information visit: www.pop.org."

9 comments:

Righty64 said...

Ingoc,
This is not a real surprise to us Red China watchers. It is not just the forced abortions that are nauseating, but the killing of girls because the Red Chinese value boys over girls. This is a problem that neither political party wants to address. Yes, it is their internal policies, but we have always stood against immoral practices and I think of nothing more immoral than forced abortions. Believe me, if you do not think it can happen here, the deafening silence on this leads me to believe that, sadly, it can

Pat Jenkins said...

you know what gets me is the liberal claim they are for man, civil rights, invasion of privacy, free to do what one may want(abortion), and yet they are in bed with those who aim and do take all these away. terrorists, communists, etc. what a crock!! now there is an idea for a blog!!!!
hah hah!!! now to your post, incog, i am sorry. it is sad that any government or man believes or thinks he has the power to control creation, and scary!!!

Frasier said...

Thats horrible.I thought it had stopped a long time ago.I dont know if this is true but I had heard that India has taken over as the most populated country over China.I guess I now know why.

MUD said...

There is just no reason that what goes on in China is worth the effort to write about. One of these days they will have a war with India and both nations will throw a couple of million soldiers at the problem and solve both over population problems. I hate abortion as a for of birth control but I hat it more that any Government gets between a woman and her doctor about something so personal. MUD

WomanHonorThyself said...

so sad hun and so sickening!.hiya!..back from my trip..ty for all the comments while I was gone! :)

Incognito said...

RIGHTY64: I know, it's terribly sad about valuing males over females in that society. There's a wonderful Chinese film called "The King of Masks", that deals with that issue. It's a beautiful film and I highly recommend it. well, the U.S. no longer funds the UNFPA.. About all we can do.

PATJ: Would be a good name for a blog. But, I hate to say this, it goes the other way, as well. Government controlling anything in our lives is not a good thing.

FRASY: Not sure what the demographics are but, in a way, I do understand the need to keep a cap on the population but there have to be better ways than this.

MUD: I agree, I personally find it abhorrent as a form of birth control, but I also believe that government shouldn't interfere in any way with our lives. You start treading into dangerous ground there.

ANGEL: welcome home!!

Missy said...

Incog - I don't think the government gives their people any credit for intelligence. A civilization that is more agrarian tends to have more children to help. One that is more technical or industrialized tends to have fewer children. One of the issues they are facing is the lack of women for all these young men to marry. Because they have favored the male child and aborted (or even worse - murdered a girl at birth), they now do not have enough women for their young men. So what are they going to do?

Thanks for the post!

Dionne said...

China's human rights abuses, especially their forced abortion policy is incomprehensible to me. I think the U.S. should have a much different trade policy with China until they agree to clean up their act.

Incognito said...

STRAWB: I remember reading an article about how the dearth of females is causing a huge problem. That's what happens when you try and control things in such a manner. Maybe they'll import them from other countries, who knows. But it is a problem.

LMC: I would agree, but won't happen. It's all about the bottom line.