Warning: Link to graphic photos in this post.
Living in China, I often find myself standing up for this country, giving my temporary home the benefit of the doubt. Mass poverty? Yes, but economic and social development take time. Corruption? Oh yeah, but what government doesn’t have its scandals? Human rights abuses? Undeniable, but the ‘bad guys’ are only a small fraction of the population. China often gets beat up and bullied by the media, but I often remind myself of how far and quickly that China has come.
But sometimes, things go too far. I cannot ignore them, I cannot stand up for China or defend its actions.
A few weeks ago, news broke about the story of a young woman named Feng Jianmei. Feng was seven months pregnant with her second child- a big no-no under China’s One Child Policy. Feng and her husband were required to pay a hefty fine for violating the Policy; the fine actually only amounted to about USD$6000, but it was an unfathomable sum for them, almost an entire year’s income.
Unable to pay the fine, at seven months pregnant, Feng was forced to have an abortion.
This is not the first or only case of forced abortion in China, where abortion is legal up to the 6th month of pregnancy. Usually, forced abortion cases are kept secret and denied when word leaks out. But in Feng’s case, her family refused to keep quiet. They took photos of her post-abortion and posted them online. The photos show Feng lying in a hospital bed, next to her aborted baby. The photos are really graphic, and make me feel sick every time I look at them, so I haven’t posted them here. If you want to take a look, you can find them here (the website is in Chinese, but the photos are clearly displayed).
The photos triggered massive public outcry which the government could not ignore. An official investigation was carried out. In the end, a few local officials were given a slap on the wrist, and Feng and her husband received an apology and a measly $11,000 in compensation.
As a mother, who was raised in a place were my human rights were respected and who knows what it’s like to conceive, grow, and expect a baby, this story makes me so angry. It’s impossible to deny that China must deal with its population problem. Although, forced abortion lies outside the realm of the pro-life/pro-choice debate. What I cannot defend or stomach is the gross violation of a woman’s body and her reproductive rights, and the whole inhumanity of the situation. It is moments like this, when China ignores the human-ness of its citizens, that I struggle with living in China.
There is a small silver-lining to this story: around the same time that Feng’s story broke, news surfaced of another Chinese woman who was about to be subjected to a forced abortion. With Feng’s story in the spotlight, authorities didn’t dare perform the procedure, and the woman has been permitted to carry on with her pregnancy.
But what worries me are the unknown number of other women who are put in this situation, whose cases are kept under the radar and who are unable to stand up for themselves.
What do you think about China’s One Child Policy? How should China balance the rights of its women to reproduce with its staggering population size?
This is an original post for World Moms Blog by Taryn. Taryn blogs at Mama’s Got Wanderlust, and can be found on twitter at @mamawanderlust and on Facebook.
Photo credit to One Tiny Spark, http://www.flickr.com/photos/eurich/2776741593/. This photo has a creative commons attribution license.
Mamasgotwanderlust (China)
You could say that Taryn has travel in her blood: a South African-born Canadian, Taryn has lived in Toronto, Vancouver, and Indiana, and has travelled extensively to Iceland, Israel, Italy, India, and a few places that don't begin with the letter I. After a brief stint as a
travel guide writer, where she realized that her dream job was actually a lot of work for not much pay, she gave in to the lure of a steady job (and pay cheque) and settled in Canada's beautiful capital, Ottawa.
In 2010, she embarked on her biggest adventure when her daughter Charlotte was born. A few months later, her hubby J. accepted a work assignment in Russia, and the family moved to Moscow. In 2011, Taryn accepted a work assignment of her own in Beijing, China where she currently lives. While excited about the opportunity to live in the world's biggest up-and-coming country (and to practice herMandarin skills), moving to China has meant leaving J. behind in Russia while he finishes up his work assignment before moving to Beijing this summer.
In the meantime, Taryn juggles career-dom, living in a foreign culture, and being a temporary single-mom to a spunky toddler. Taryn is also the blogger behind Mama's Got Wanderlust, where she writes about her adventures in travelling, parenting, and living abroad.
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I can’t even rationally comment on this in any way. I don’t know why I felt compelled to look at the photos, but a long stream of swear words really wants to come out of my mouth right now. I’m sorry, but at 7 months that is not an abortion, that is killing a baby that is completely viable outside the womb. That is murder. I am completely pro-choice, but a baby that’s 32 weeks old? Unacceptable. I don’t know what the solution is to the population problem, but I do know that THIS IS NOT IT. The pain that woman was in (emotional & physical) and the stuff she’ll struggle with for the rest of her life makes me want to vomit.
I can’t even rationally comment on this in any way. I don’t know why I felt compelled to look at the photos, but a long stream of swear words really wants to come out of my mouth right now. I’m sorry, but at 7 months that is not an abortion, that is killing a baby that is completely viable outside the womb. That is murder. I am completely pro-choice, but a baby that’s 32 weeks old? Unacceptable. I don’t know what the solution is to the population problem, but I do know that THIS IS NOT IT. The pain that woman was in (emotional & physical) and the stuff she’ll struggle with for the rest of her life makes me want to vomit.
This is so sad. I’m so sensitive, so I chose not to click on the photos, yet, the post still has me outraged. I can’t even imagine being in Feng’s position. Women like yourself sharing her story is the first step towards change. Differences of opinions on the legalization of abortion aside, a government forcing a woman to abort a child is just wrong and absolutely heartbreaking.
This is so sad. I’m so sensitive, so I chose not to click on the photos, yet, the post still has me outraged. I can’t even imagine being in Feng’s position. Women like yourself sharing her story is the first step towards change. Differences of opinions on the legalization of abortion aside, a government forcing a woman to abort a child is just wrong and absolutely heartbreaking.
My heart is aching right now…. Thank you for sharing this story. I hadn’t heard about it (I admittedly live in a luxurious, self imposed media-less bubble at the moment) and feel incredibly outraged that this is still a practice in China. I don’t have answers to the population crisis, but I know in my heart that this action is not a viable one. Sending compassion and love to this mother, whose grief I cannot even begin to fathom.
My heart is aching right now…. Thank you for sharing this story. I hadn’t heard about it (I admittedly live in a luxurious, self imposed media-less bubble at the moment) and feel incredibly outraged that this is still a practice in China. I don’t have answers to the population crisis, but I know in my heart that this action is not a viable one. Sending compassion and love to this mother, whose grief I cannot even begin to fathom.
Absolutely horrible! I agree with everything rachael101 wrote. There has to be a better way. And Jenn you’re right that talking about it is the first step towards change
Absolutely horrible! I agree with everything rachael101 wrote. There has to be a better way. And Jenn you’re right that talking about it is the first step towards change
Being a mother of 2, (that was after loosing 3 babies) I cannot even imagine this happening. I feel so badly for the people of China and I pray that this woman and her family can heal. Such an injustice.
Being a mother of 2, (that was after loosing 3 babies) I cannot even imagine this happening. I feel so badly for the people of China and I pray that this woman and her family can heal. Such an injustice.
What breaks my heart is that I have seen babies younger than this born alive and survive… I understand that China feels the need to curb their population size, but this is a blatant disregard of human rights, and simply should not be allowed… I’m pro-choice, with the emphasis on choice, and where money comes into the picture one cannot claim that the choice was made freely.
What breaks my heart is that I have seen babies younger than this born alive and survive… I understand that China feels the need to curb their population size, but this is a blatant disregard of human rights, and simply should not be allowed… I’m pro-choice, with the emphasis on choice, and where money comes into the picture one cannot claim that the choice was made freely.
Of course I couldn’t help myself from clicking the link. And like Rachael above, I have quite a few choice words to say right now. I have always been pro-choice, but this is not the choice that Feng made. Nor, is this when the baby is still in the embryonic non-viable stage. This is plain murder. That baby was torn from it’s mother and tossed aside like it was a piece of stale bread. I cannot imagine what Feng and her family must be going through right now. Good for them for publicizing this all over the internet and bringing this to the forefront of people’s minds (and ultimately saving another mother from having to go through the same thing). Nothing can change if everyone stays quiet and looks the other way while these atrocities are being performed.
I agree that something needs to be done about over-population, but forced abortion is certainly not the answer. Free birth control? Education? Free voluntary vasectomies after the first child?
I’m just curious, as an expat living in China, are there any such restrictions placed on you?
Thanks for bringing this to our attention!
Thanks for your question. As an expat, I am very fortunate to not have to abide by the same kind of restrictions. But it certainly has made me think about population growth, fertility, and reproductive rights.
Of course I couldn’t help myself from clicking the link. And like Rachael above, I have quite a few choice words to say right now. I have always been pro-choice, but this is not the choice that Feng made. Nor, is this when the baby is still in the embryonic non-viable stage. This is plain murder. That baby was torn from it’s mother and tossed aside like it was a piece of stale bread. I cannot imagine what Feng and her family must be going through right now. Good for them for publicizing this all over the internet and bringing this to the forefront of people’s minds (and ultimately saving another mother from having to go through the same thing). Nothing can change if everyone stays quiet and looks the other way while these atrocities are being performed.
I agree that something needs to be done about over-population, but forced abortion is certainly not the answer. Free birth control? Education? Free voluntary vasectomies after the first child?
I’m just curious, as an expat living in China, are there any such restrictions placed on you?
Thanks for bringing this to our attention!
Thanks for your question. As an expat, I am very fortunate to not have to abide by the same kind of restrictions. But it certainly has made me think about population growth, fertility, and reproductive rights.
I could probably write a novel about this issue, but won’t do so in the comments here 🙂 As a mom to a child from China (and another one from a country with a similar but not as strictly enforced policy,) I have heard first hand such tragic stories. Thank you for sharing and raising awareness to others who may not know the extremes to which these policies are enforced.
I could probably write a novel about this issue, but won’t do so in the comments here 🙂 As a mom to a child from China (and another one from a country with a similar but not as strictly enforced policy,) I have heard first hand such tragic stories. Thank you for sharing and raising awareness to others who may not know the extremes to which these policies are enforced.
Powerful and heart breaking post. Thank you for sharing this important story.
Powerful and heart breaking post. Thank you for sharing this important story.
I strongly agree with what the others have said. There actually are no words to describe the anger I feel at the murder of this innocent baby. The only “redeeming feature” is that (by sharing their story) this traumatised family has managed to save at least one other child. It truly makes me sick that the only reason this baby was killed was because its parents were too poor to be able to pay the fine!!
“For Evil to flourish all it takes is for Good people to do nothing” – maybe by raising a global outcry, by continuing to share this story, we can effect some change in this barbaric and draconian rule! 🙁
The one child policy should be ended. China’s attitude towards girl babies is still so medieval that the whole population is getting very oddly swayed and it’s just going to cause them more problems. Plus this is barbaric. Government rewards for people who DON’T have children is a better plan than punishments to those who do.
Powerful heartbreaking post. I wrote about this issue before on my blog after visiting China but your post and this story have a much more powerful reach. I agree that forced abortions this late is terrifying and a tragedy.
Reblogged this on thirdeyemom and commented:
Hello Readers! I also write and edit for a wonderful blog called World Moms Blog in the human rights and social good section. Yesterday’s post above is a rather disturbing look at China’s One Child Policy. I had written about this issue before back in February. The post is called “China’s Controversial One Child Policy” (http://thirdeyemom.com/2012/02/07/chinas-controversial-one-child-policy/). Please see the recent post by one of our bloggers living in China. It really sheds light on this tragedy. Thirdeyemom
I also just reblogged this on my site to see if we can reach more readers! It is a great post and people need to know about this!
As an expectant mother to a second child this post has brought tears to my eyes. I didn’t know that the One Child Policy was still in place but more importantly the consequences for ‘breaking the law’. How tragic to say the least. To be honest since becoming a mum I avoid new a fair bit some times its all too much for me to bear. I agonize about how I will raise my children in such a world. Then there is the part of me that wants to know and know that I must be informed, hence reason follow this blog.
As sad as it is, I glad you share this story.