Posted on 02/05/2013 2:54:57 PM PST by grundle
A photo showing a foetus whose mother was forced to have an abortion has shocked China web users. Feng Jiamei, from Shaanxi province, was made to undergo the procedure in the seventh month of pregnancy, local officials said after investigating. Ms Feng was forced into the abortion as she could not pay the fine for having a second child, US-based activists said.
Because she already had a child, said Feng, local birth-control authorities ordered her to pay a fine of £4,000. She didn't have the money, she said, so a team from the local family planning authority in Shannxi province came to collect her from her home and take her to hospital for the forced abortion. Recounting the horror, Feng said she told the family planning department she could not pay the fine because her mother-in-law needed money for cancer treatment. It was then, she claimed, the authorities began their action against her. She said no less than 20 staff from the family planning department came to her home and placed her under arrest. As they drove her to the hospital for a forced abortion, she began to resist - resulting in her being beaten.
Rights groups say China's one-child policy has meant women being coerced into abortions, which Beijing denies. "Feng Jianmei's story demonstrates how the One-Child Policy continues to sanction violence against women every day," said Chai Ling of the US-based activist group All Girls Allowed. The group says it spoke to Ms Feng and her husband Deng Jiyuan after the incident. Mr Deng said his wife had been forcibly taken to hospital and restrained before the procedure.
Correspondent Jon Sudworth in Shanghai says such allegations are nothing new in China, but what has made this one different is a widely circulated photo of the woman lying next to the baby's corpse. Media reports from China says Ms Feng has been traumatized by what has happened. Chinese law clearly prohibits abortions beyond six months.
Unnamed local officials in Zhenping county - where the incident took place - denied forcing Ms Feng to have the abortion, local media reports say. But a preliminary investigation by the Shaanxi Provincial Population and Family Planning Commission confirmed the forced abortion had taken place. Without naming Ms Feng, it said in a statement that the woman had been seven months pregnant. "Such practice has seriously violated the relevant policies set by national and provincial family planning commissions, which harmed the image of our family planning work, and caused extremely poor effects in society," said the statement. "Based on the findings, we have requested the local government to punish the relevant officers according to law," it said.
The photo circulated around the world via the internet has sparked outrage among world citizens and there is ample evidence of this on the internet today. Activist Chen Guangcheng, who was put under virtual house arrest for campaigning against forced abortions, fled China to the US last month. I don't blame him for going somewhere he can speak his mind freely without persecution. I hope he does not give up his cause.
God’s judgement will be fearful and just.
Barbarians at the gate....
Obama can autograph it and it can be used a Democratic Party fundraiser.
Biden Says He's Not 'Second-Guessing' China's One-Child Rule
Libertarians will point out that while she has every right to any full term abortion, it shouldn’t be forced on her, it is her choice, (not the babies).
Horrible and disgusting.
A photo the scumbags at PP can use for Mother’s Day.
This libertarian disagrees with your generality.
Coming soon to a socialist workers’ and peasants’ paradise in North America.
covered by obamacare
Part of libertarianism is to gear the message to whatever audience they are addressing, if speaking to conservatives they embrace conservative economics, if speaking to lefties, then the libertarian will stress homosexuals in the military, gay marriage, unlimited abortion and so on.
ok something about this is not right
who took this picture?
and why?
I mean the woman is in pajamas, and they left the dead baby on the bed next to her and then stopped to snap a photo?
I am totally against this policy, but the left is going to claim the photo was staged, and with good reason
Because we vote for it, this election, both parties ran pro-choice candidates.
Obama will say nothing of this, you can bet. Biden, on the other hand, if asked, will comment that either: 1, the mother knew the law, so too bad for her, or 2, he doesn’t personally agree with it, but who are we to judge.
That’s the Libertarian Party platform which is a sham. As far as I’m concerned, most of its members are Leftwing jackwagons.
My libertarianism is in contrast to statism, and not to be confused with the flawed platform of the Libertarian Party. Conservatism alone does not properly distinguish itself from statism. My views are essentially in the Conservative-libertarian quad.
To your point about Life, a libertarian must value the life-right of each individual especially the most vulnerable. Only a hypocritical asshat would espouse libertarianism but deny it for nascent life.
I prefer the govt handle the bare essentials of national security, some infrastructure, and minimal Constitutional oversight. This is not exactly a Conservative position; it’s a libertarian one.
>> I am totally against this policy, but the left is going to claim the photo was staged, and with good reason
Is your concern the event did not occur?
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