Forcing a woman to have an abortion at eight months: Welcome to 21st century China

This week, a series of panicked text messages was published by an online newspaper. They were sent by an eight months pregnant woman in southwest China and spoke of her being pressured into an illegal late-term abortion so that her husband would not lose his job.

The woman in question, known only by her surname Chen, already has an 11-year-old daughter. Under China's current version of the one child policy, she and her husband do not meet the criteria to have a second baby (both parents have to be only children themselves).

If their second child is born, Chen's police officer husband would be sacked, in line with rules that specifically apply to public servants as upholders of Chinese law.

The news report revealed that Mrs Chen had found out that she was pregnant earlier this year and wanted to keep the baby. The screenshots of her text messages begin by saying that her husband's work unit had found out about her pregnancy and that his boss had visited their home to convince her to abort the baby so that his husband could keep his job.

"I can't resist any more, his unit gives [us] pressure and then let us self-willingly go and have an induced birth", one message read.

The induced birth in question refers to a late-stage abortion, followed by a medically induced still birth.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11858723/China-Forced-abortion-late-term-to-avoid-one-child-policy.html

I would rather give my baby life and my husband lose his job they would survive and if it meant losing our home then so be it if it were me and my husband i would live in a tent to give my child life .

Vicar Of Dibley wrote:I would rather give my baby life and my husband lose his job they would survive and if it meant losing our home then so be it  if it were me and my husband i would live in a tent to give my child life .

Terrible isn't it VOD The baby could easily survive out of the womb at 8 months gestation.  This is not abortion, this is murder.

feelthelove wrote:

Vicar Of Dibley wrote:I would rather give my baby life and my husband lose his job they would survive and if it meant losing our home then so be it  if it were me and my husband i would live in a tent to give my child life .

Terrible isn't it VOD The baby could easily survive out of the womb at 8 months gestation.  This is not abortion, this is murder.

Yes it is murder , the article says they have decided to keep the baby but her husband still may face some sort of disciplinary action from his job .

I was under the impression that this law was cancelled a few years ago, and now two is the limit. I may be wrong, does anyone know for sure?

nicko wrote:I was under the impression that this law was cancelled a few years ago,  and now two is the limit.   I may be wrong, does anyone know for sure?

Hi Nicko, you can have two if you meet specific criteria.  It's been tweeked I think but not cancelled.

Hong Kong (CNN)A year ago, China relaxed its controversial one-child policy, allowing couples to have a second baby if the mother or father was an only child themselves.

It was hailed as a major liberalization of the three-decades old restriction, but new figures suggest that fewer people than expected are taking the plunge and expanding their family.

Nationwide, nearly one million couples eligible under the new rules have applied to have a second child, state media reported on Monday.

It's estimated that 11 million couples are eligible for additional children, and health officials had said that the policy would lead to as many as two million new births when the policy change was first announced.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/13/china/china-one-child-policy/