China still conducting forced abortions on pregnant women despite shift to Two-Child Policy
Forced abortions and sterilizations are still performed in China despite the abandonment of the One-Child Policy, according to Women's Rights Without Frontiers (WRWF). The organization recently filed a complaint to the U.N. over the continuation of coercive population control programs enforced by the government.
"Characterizing this latest modification as 'abandoning' the One-Child Policy is misleading. A two-child policy will not end any of the human rights abuses caused by the One-Child Policy, including forced abortion, involuntary sterilization or the sex-selective abortion of baby girls," stated the complaint addressed to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.
According to Sixth Tone, a woman identified only as Anxiang had to abort her pregnancy at six months after she and her husband were threatened with the loss of their government jobs. The couple thought they were allowed to have another child but they were found in violation of the provincial policy because there is no mention of the case for remarried couples.
Some Chinese provinces like Guangdong do not allow remarried couples who already have children from previous marriages to have another child. An anonymous staffer at the Guangdong Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission told Sixth Tone that new regulations regarding remarried couples are currently being reviewed.
Reggie Littlejohn, president of WRWF, expressed her dismay over Anxiang's situation. "Our hearts go out to Anxiang and her husband. Although Anxiang was not physically dragged out of her home for an abortion, this abortion was nevertheless coerced. You can force someone through physical coercion or financial coercion," she said.
WRWF criticized China for citing the One-Child Policy as a means of fighting climate change and for recommending the policy to other nations. The organization pointed out that the Chinese government eliminated many lives through forced abortion and sterilization.
"Forced abortion is not a choice. It is official government rape," the WWRF declared.
WWRF called on the U.N. to persuade China to abandon the Two-Child Policy and any other means of coercive population control.
