Women forced to abort under China's one-child policy

By Michelle Phillips The Washington Times 11:02 a.m., Wednesday, June 2, 2010

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/2/women-forced-abort-under-chinas-one-childpolicy/

Every 2.4 seconds, a woman in China undergoes a forced abortion because of the communist nation's one-child policy, totaling about 35,000 abortions a day, a panel of four experts said Tuesday. "Over 400 million children are not living in China because of the one-child policy," said Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women's Rights Without Borders. "That's more than the population of the United States." Tuesday's panel discussion -- dubbed "No Choice Allowed" -- featured Ms. Littlejohn; Rep. Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey Republican; Chai Ling, a leader of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests; and Capt. Xiong Yan, another Tiananmen leader. About 70 people attended the discussion, which was held in the Rayburn House Office Building. Mr. Smith, who has been calling attention to the issue since 1982, said the one-child policy is "the most egregious human rights violation," which is little-known outside China. "Many people in America know about the one-child policy but don't know it leads to forced abortions," Ms. Littlejohn said, describing how women in China are dragged to hospitals and strapped to beds for abortions. The panelists said they each have had personal contact with victims of forced abortion in China. Ms. Littlejohn used to be an attorney for Chinese refugees seeking help in the United States, many of whom shared their stories of forced abortions. "It just broke my heart, so I left the law to devote my time fully to this issue," she said. China enacted its one-child policy in 1978 to curb its mushrooming population.

In an interview after the discussion, Mr. Smith said that with increased education and literacy, people in China would decide to have fewer children on their own. He pointed out that the trend can be seen in places that emphasize education. "But [population control] never has to be through killing a child," he said. Panelists said that Chinese demographers have expressed fears that the one-child policy could lead to economic and social disaster in a few years. Still, other countries with population problems are considering copying China's model because of the aid and credibility it gets from U.N. Population Fund, Mr. Smith said. Dr. David Aikman, a former reporter for Time magazine who was in Beijing for the Tiananmen Square protests, ended the discussion by telling the story of an elderly Chinese man who said to him, "Thank you for being here to tell the world what the Chinese government is doing to the Chinese people." He said the same to the panelists, hoping the discussion would keep the issue fresh in the public's mind.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/chinas-one-child-policy-will-cause-demographic-disasterexpert-foresees/

Chinas one-child policy will cause demographic 'disaster,' expert foresees

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Front Royal, Va., Sep 30, 2010 / 09:11 am (CNA).- The Chinese governments announcement that its one-child policy will remain in place will lead the country into a demographic disaster, one expert observer has said. He suggested that a coercive euthanasia program could be added to the countrys coercive abortion and birth control campaigns. Li Ban, head of Chinas National Population and Family Planning Commission, said the country will stick to the family-planning policy in the coming decades," CNN reports.

In response, Joseph Meany, Director of International Coordination at Human Life International (HLI), said the Chinese governments population control policy is stubbornly persisting in leading their country into a demographic disaster. "It is simply incomprehensible that the Chinese National Population and Family Planning Commission can seriously mean to extend this destructive policy for an unspecified number of decades into the future," said Meaney in a Tuesday press release. "China's population is currently projected to start shrinking in absolute numbers by 2026, but the coerced low fertility of Chinese women means that the Peoples' Republic of China is one of the fastest ageing societies in the world." Noting that there are often four grandparents for each child as a result of the policy, Meaney asked how the Chinese government plans to pay the pensions of hundreds of millions of elderly. "One shudders to think what draconian measures will be implemented by the Chinese government once it becomes fully apparent that they cannot financially support the millions of disabled and elderly persons who are no longer seen as contributing to society. Coercive euthanasia cannot be far behind their renewed commitment to coercive abortion and birth control."