The Christian Post reports that China's Population and
Family Planning Commission has issued an order to ban the use of forced abortion. This follows huge international pressure on China following the very graphic reports of cases such as Feng Jianmei. Link to article
Whilst this undoubtedly a step in the right direction if it is confirmed it is still a long way short of a complete reversal of the infamous one child policy.
It would be good to hear the views of the blind Chinese Lawyer Chen Guangcheng and others
The full article is reprinted below
Following international outcry, China's Population and
Family Planning Commission issued an order to ban the use of forced abortion
when enforcing its one-child policy. The directive is being hailed as a
significant step forward in human rights.
All Girls Allowed founder Chai Ling called it "awesome
progress."
"When God told Moses that the Red Sea would part, it
did. Last year a prophecy was given that God would end the One-Child Policy in
China, and I rejoice that God is already doing it," she said in a
statement. "The media's exposure of this injustice has been invaluable,
and people in China and around the world are standing boldly against injustice.
This has made China understand that they can no longer hide the brutal
truth."
Under China's one-child policy, family planning officials
have long dragged women pregnant with an additional child to hospitals where
they were forced to have an abortion.
One case that drew international attention and widespread
media coverage in June involved a 7-month pregnant woman, Feng Jianmei. After
being beaten by family planning officials, she was forced to sign an abortion
"consent" form and toxins were injected into the brain of her unborn
daughter. She gave birth to her deceased child on June 4. A picture of her
lying on a hospital bed next to her baby was released.
All Girls Allowed spokesperson Kat Lewis believes the
attention this case gained placed immense pressure on the Chinese government.
"If there had been no graphic picture of her (Feng
Jianmei), no media firestorm, no global outcry, and no anger voiced by social
media users in China …. then the central government might never have done
anything," Lewis told The Christian Post.
"In fact, a photo that was almost identical to Feng
Jianmei's (of another woman and baby following a forced abortion) was released
in 2006, but the media didn't pick it up and no one really tracked down the
perpetrators."
She also credited prayer from Christians for the change.
All Girls Allowed confirmed with the family planning office
in Chongqing that the order to end forced abortions, particularly late-term
abortions, and sterilization was issued on Aug. 30. The order came from the
Population and Family Planning Commission in Beijing.
In July, during the commission's semiannual meeting,
Minister Wang Xia had called upon policy enforcers to "absolutely stop
performing late-stage abortions," saying they should only "guide
people to do family planning voluntarily," according to All Girls Allowed.
"This contrasts starkly with earlier family planning
statements in China, which have called for mandatory abortion as a 'remedial
measure' and encouraged enforcers to 'spare no effort' in terminating the
pregnancies of women who lacked birth permits," said the human rights
group.
The use of forced abortion was on the books in family
planning policies in 18 out of 31 provinces in China as late as last year, said
Lewis.
Despite progress, there are still other forms of coercion
that the government is utilizing to keep families from growing. This includes
the huge fines that families are forced to pay for an additional child.
Xiao Zheng and Xiao Guo are permitted by law to have a
second child because they both come from single-child families. But after the
birth of their second child they were fined more than $11,000 which is several
times the couple's annual income. Local planning authorities say the married
couple did not submit the proper application on time.
"Even with Minister Wang's call to end late-term forced
abortions, the policy remains coercive: it still threatens parents with huge
fines and job loss for having a second child," said Ling.
"Human rights will take a back seat as long as the
government continues to use family planning fees as a major revenue source.
China cannot genuinely claim that the policy is 'coercion-free' until it no
longer threatens parents' livelihoods and ability to provide."
More than 13 million abortions are performed each year in
China. Family planning leaders claim that the one-child policy has prevented
400 million births over its 32 years
