China Backtracks: “Birth Policy Changes Are No Big Deal”

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Reggie Littlejohn

Under the misleading headline, “China to Ease One-Child Policy,” Xinhua News Agency reported last Friday that China will now lift the ban on a second child, if either parent is an only child. Similarly, last Friday the mainstream media ran such optimistic headlines as “China Reforms: One-child policy to be relaxed” and “China to ease One Child Policy.”

In apparent response to quell speculation that this small adjustment represents a major reform, Xinhua ran another report over the weekend: “Birth policy changes are no big deal.” In this second report Xinhua quotes Wang Pei’an, deputy director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), at length. In an interview, Wang told Xinhua that “the number of couples covered by the new policy is not very large across the country.”

In addition, Wang stated that “there is no unified timetable nationwide to start the new policy, as regions will implement it at different times based on their local situation.”

Wang “suggested that regions which have many suitable couples should promote a reasonable birth interval to avoid birth accumulation.”

He concluded that “the basic state policy of family planning will be adhered to over a long period of time.”

Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, stated, “to say that China has ‘relaxed’ or ‘eased’ its One Child Policy under these circumstances is completely unwarranted. To the contrary, Xinhua’s weekend report makes it clear that the minor modification of the policy announced Friday:

1) will not affect a large percentage of couples in China;

2) is not currently subject to a timetable in which to implement it;

3) retains the dreaded “birth intervals” between children (if a woman gets pregnant before the interval has lapsed, she may be subject to a crushing fine or forced abortion);

4) makes no promise to end the coercive enforcement of the Policy; and

5) promises to continue the One Child Policy “over a long period of time” – which could be decades.”

Littlejohn continued: “Headlines stating that China has ‘eased’ or ‘relaxed’ its One Child Policy are detrimental to sincere efforts to stop forced abortion in China, because they imply that the One Child Policy is no longer a problem. In a world laden with compassion fatigue, people are relieved to cross China’s One Child Policy off of their list of things to worry about. But we cannot do that. Let us not abandon the women of China, who continue to face forced abortion, up to the ninth month of pregnancy. The One Child Policy does not need to be adjusted. It needs to be abolished.”

Sign our petition against forced abortion in China. http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/index.php?nav=sign_our_petition

Watch our video, “Stop Forced Abortion: China’s War on Women” (4 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjtuBcJUsjY

Read the Xinhua Article: “Birth policy changes are no big deal”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2013-11/16/c_132893477.htm

Posted in China's One Child Policy, Forced Abortion, forced sterilization, Reggie Littlejohn, Uncategorized, Women's Rights Without Frontiers | Comments Off on China Backtracks: “Birth Policy Changes Are No Big Deal”

Do not believe reports that China will “ease” its One Child Policy

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Reggie Littlejohn

Under the misleading headline, “China to Ease One-Child Policy,” Xinhua reports that China will now lift the ban on a second child, if either parent is an only child. This minor reform will not “ease” the One Child Policy. It will merely tweak it.

All the reasons for this adjustment are economic or demographic: China’s dwindling labor force, the country’s growing elderly population, and the severe gender imbalance. Completely absent from the discussion is the issue of human rights violations. China has not promised to end forced abortion, forced sterilization or forced contraception. The coercive enforcement of China’s One Child Policy is its core.

Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, stated: “While we are glad for the second babies who will be born under this adjustment, instituting a two-child policy in certain, limited circumstances will not end forced abortion or forced sterilization. The problem with the One Child Policy is not the number of children “allowed.”  Rather, it is the fact that the CCP is telling women how many children they can have and then enforcing that limit through forced abortion, forced sterilization and infanticide. Even if all couples were allowed two children, there is no guarantee that the CCP will cease their appalling methods of enforcement.  Regardless of the number of children allowed, women who get pregnant without permission will still be dragged out of their homes, strapped down to tables and forced to abort babies that they want, even up to the ninth month of pregnancy.  It does not matter whether you are pro-life or pro-choice on this issue.  No one supports forced abortion, because it is not a choice.

“Further, instituting a two-child policy will not end gendercide. Indeed, areas in which two children currently are allowed are especially vulnerable to gendercide, the sex-selective abortion of females.  According to the 2009 British Medical Journal study of 2005 national census data, in nine provinces, for “second order births” where the first child is a girl, 160 boys were born for every 100 girls. In two provinces, Jiangsu and Anhui, for the second child, there were 190 boys for every hundred girls born. This study stated, “Sex selective abortion accounts for almost all the excess males.”  Because of this gendercide, there are an estimated 37 million Chinese men who will never marry because their future wives were terminated before they were born. This gender imbalance is a powerful, driving force behind trafficking in women and sexual slavery, not only in China, but in neighboring nations as well.

“Moreover, the Chinese Communist Party periodically modifies the One Child Policy, but the coercion at its core remains. Reports of these tweaks — especially when mischaracterized by western media — throw the human rights world into confusion and blunt genuine efforts to end forced abortion in China.  On September 9, 2010, for example, TIME ran the headline, “China Could Overthrow One-Child Rule.” Myriad other news sources followed suit. This dramatic headline was based on the fact that China proposed to run a pilot program allowing some couples to have two children.  Soon afterwards, on September 25, 2010 – the 30th anniversary of the One Child Policy – a top population control official praised the policy and stated that China “will stick to the family planning policy in the coming decades.”  Moreover, despite this pilot program, numerous reports of late-term forced abortions have surfaced since 2010, including the forced abortion at seven months of Feng Jianmei in June 2012.”

For a discussion of forced abortion cases that have arisen in 2011-2012, read WRWF’s Complaint to the UNCSW. http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=717

For a discussion of forced abortion and other egregious violations of human rights in connection with coercive population control, read WRWF’s 2013 Complaint to the UNCSW.
http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=1254

Read the Xinhua Report: “China to Ease One-Child Policy”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-11/15/c_132891920.htm

Posted in Forced Abortion, forced sterilization, One Child Policy, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Do not believe reports that China will “ease” its One Child Policy

China has no business on the U.N. Human Rights Council

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Reggie Littlejohn

It is a travesty that China has returned to a seat at the U.N. Human Rights Council, which is “responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe.”  In the words of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, “All victims of human rights abuses should be able to look to the Human Rights Council as a forum and a springboard for action.”

Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, stated, “The Chinese government does not promote or protect human rights, even of its own citizens.  To the contrary, the Chinese Communist Party is a brutal, totalitarian regime — one of the greatest human rights violators in the world.  How can it then be a watchdog over human rights in other nations?  This is like the proverbial fox guarding the chicken coup or the wolf guarding the sheep.  Rather, China will likely turn a blind eye to serious human rights abuses in other nations, to discourage other nations from challenging it on its own abysmal human rights record.   China has no business on the U.N. Human Rights Council.  Its presence damages the credibility of the Council.

“One example of the CCP’s brutality is the coercive enforcement of China’s One Child Policy.  China is the only government that forcibly aborts women, up to the ninth month of pregnancy.  It also practices forced sterilization and coercive birth control.  China’s coercive low birth limit has led to gendercide, the widespread systematic elimination of baby girls.   The resultant gender imbalance has led to sexual slavery.  Add to this China’s other well-documented human rights abuses:  persecution of Tibetans and the Falun Gong, violent suppression of dissent, and abuse of the death penalty, just to name a few. Instead of returning China to a seat at the table, the U.N. Human Rights Council should be taking action against China for being one of the most massive violators of human rights in the world.”

Sign a petition against forced abortion in China:  http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/index.php?nav=sign_our_petition

Posted in Forced Abortion, One Child Policy, Reggie Littlejohn, Uncategorized, United Nations | Comments Off on China has no business on the U.N. Human Rights Council

Our “Save a Girl” Campaign Saved a Surprise Boy

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Reggie Littlejohn

This boy was almost aborted because the ultrasound said he was a girl. WRWF’s “Save a Girl” Campaign saved his life.

An administrator at a local hospital in rural China places a secret call to a Women’s Rights Without Frontiers fieldworker. A woman’s ultrasound shows a girl, he says. The family is known to practice gendercide, and the mother is being pressured to abort.

One of our fieldworkers visits and learns the husband’s family insists on the abortion. To help the mother keep the child, we offer monthly support for a year – part of our “Save a Girl” Campaign. She uses these much-needed funds to push back against the pressure to abort the baby because it’s a girl.

Then comes the birth of a healthy baby . . . boy!  The ultrasound was wrong. In tears, the mother thanks us for saving her son, almost lost because he was expected to be a girl.

* * *

Please help us save lives in China by donating to our
“Save a Girl” Campaign today!

* * *

Today, October 11, is International Day of the Girl Child.  It was established by the UN in 2011 “to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.”  It is a “girl’s right” not to be deleted from existence just because she’s a girl.  It is the “unique challenge” of girls in China and India to emerge from their mothers’ wombs alive, so that they may draw breath upon this earth and see the light of day.

For most of us, hearing “it’s a girl” is cause for enormous joy, happiness and celebration.  But in many countries, this announcement is a death sentence.  Experts estimate that up to 200 million women are missing in the world today due to gendercide, mostly in China and India.

This should not be a pro-choice or a pro-life issue.  This is a human rights issue. Gendercide is violence against women and girls.  No one supports the systematic elimination of females.

Or so I thought.  Just last week it was reported that it is now legal to selectively abort girls in the UK.

Where is the “feminist” outcry? How does it advance women’s rights to selectively abort hundreds of millions of girls, simply because they are future women? When faced with human rights atrocities of this scale, silence is complicity.

All too often, gendercide is not a choice. There is a strong correlation between sex-selective abortion and coercion. Crushing social, economic, political and personal pressures in cultures with a strong son preference trample women carrying girls.  Women in these cultures hardly select their daughters for abortion. They are forced.

In China, the birth ratio of girls to boys is the most skewed in the world: approximately 100 girls born for every 119 boys. Sons traditionally carry on the family name, work the fields, and take care of their parents in old age. A daughter joins her husband’s family at marriage. There is a saying: “Raising a girl is like watering someone else’s garden.” The One Child Policy exacerbates the underlying son preference. When couples are restricted to a coercive low birth limit, women often become the focus of intense pressure by their husband and in-laws to ensure a boy.

Because of systematic, sex-selective abortion there are an estimated 37 million more males than females living in China today. The presence of these “excess males” is the driving force behind human trafficking and sexual slavery, not only within China but from surrounding nations as well.

Finally, China has the highest female suicide rate of any country in the world. According to the most recent U.S. State Department China Human Rights Report, the number of female suicides has risen sharply in the past several years, from 500 women per day to 590.

It is a woman’s right to choose to give birth to her daughters. Together, China and India comprise one third of the world’s population. That one-third of the world’s women are deprived of their right to bear girls is the biggest women’s rights abuse on earth. This violent discrimination against women and girls deserves a passionate response from groups that stand for women’s rights, whether on the right or on the left.

These problems are not confined to China and India.  Female feticide happens in the United States and in many countries all over the world.

Every struggling mother deserves help to keep her daughter. Together, we can end gendercide and sweep sex-selective abortion into the dung-heap of history, where it belongs.

* * *

You can help save lives in China by donating to our
“Save a Girl” Campaign today!

* * *

Posted in gendercide, International Day of the Girl Child, pro-choice, pro-life, Save a Girl, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Our “Save a Girl” Campaign Saved a Surprise Boy

One Child Policy Still Massive Threat to Women, Expert Warns

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Reggie Littlejohn

Reggie Littlejohn Meets Pope Francis during the 2013 MaterCare International Conference in Rome. Photo Courtesy of Women's Rights Without Frontiers

This article is reprinted with the permission of the Catholic News Agency.  Read the original article by Elise Harris here: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/one-child-policy-still-a-massive-threat-to-women-expert-warns/

Rome, Italy, Sep 25, 2013 / 04:07 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In wake of the 33rd anniversary of China’s one-child policy, a women’s rights activist has raised concern about those who believe the policy has ended, warning of the dangers it still poses.

“The one child policy is definitely still happening. Any report that states that China is abandoning the one-child policy is false,” Reggie Littlejohn said in a Sept. 22 interview with CNA.

Littlejohn is the founder and president of “Women’s Rights Without Frontiers,” an international coalition aimed at exposing forced abortion, gendercide, and sexual slavery in China.

Wednesday marks the anniversary of the country’s one-child policy, which was instituted during the Mao era in China in 1979 as a means of population control. The measure restricts most Chinese families to one child each, and uses a quota reward system for the Family Planning Officials who carry out the birth control policies.

“The one-child policy causes more violence towards women and girls than any other official policy on earth, than any other official policy in the history of the world,” Littlejohn said, adding that the Chinese communist party has boasted about having “prevented four hundred million lives” through the policy.

“Women are forced to abort babies up to the ninth month of pregnancy, and sometimes these forced abortions are so violent that the women themselves die along with their full-term babies.”

In addition to her advocacy for China’s women, Littlejohn also led the international effort to free Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, who arrived in the United States in May, 2013.

Known as an international expert on the country’s one-child policy, she has testified at the U.S. Congress as well as the European, British and Irish Parliaments, and has briefed the White House, the U.S. Department of State, and the Vatican on the issues of women’s rights in China. Most recently, she addressed a maternal health care conference in Rome, where she was able to meet Pope Francis.

Littlejohn rejected media perceptions in the West that the one-child policy is waning, countering that “when the Chinese communist party tweaks the policy, makes a minor adjustment to it, for some reason that fact gets reported as ‘China is abandoning the one-child policy,’ which is not true.”

According to her, coercion involved in the one-child policy is being used to keep the communist party in power.

“The core of the policy, the centerpiece of the policy, is not how many children the government allows a woman to have, it’s the coercion with which they enforce the limit,” she said.

Littlejohn added that even if a couple is granted a second child, they would still need to have a birth permit – if they do not get one, the mother is still subject to a forced abortion until the end of her term.

Outside of forced abortion, the one-child policy has opened the door to other human rights issues, such as human trafficking and gendercide, Littlejohn said.

“The fact that the Chinese government imposes this coercive low birth limit, combine that with the preference for boys and what you end up with is sex-selective abortion, or gendercide.”

“Right now there are thirty-seven million more men living in China than women,” she said, “and that’s driving human trafficking and sexual slavery, not only within China but the surrounding countries.”

Littlejohn said that the coercion used to enforce the one-child policy serves the double purpose to also keep the communist party in place in China, stating that when the policy was initiated, the birth rate was about 5.9, whereas now it “more like 1.7, which is well below 2.1.”

“China’s population problem is not that they have too many people, it’s that they have too few young people. So I believe that it has transformed into a policy of social control that’s a way for the Chinese government to demonstrate its power.”

She also listed China’s system of informants, who are specifically assigned to watch women and report anyone whose abdomens “look bigger than they should,” and the money that the government makes in profit from the “exorbitant” fines they charge to families with more than one child, among the reasons she believes that the policy is being used to keep the current party in place.

When the informants catch a woman, Littlejohn said, China’s Family Planning Police come “in the middle of the night, grabbing women out of their beds, strapping them down to tables and forcing them to abort babies they want up to the ninth month of pregnancy.”

“That is a form of violence against women, its official government rape in my opinion, and it’s a way of terrorizing the entire population.”

Littlejohn emphasized the need to raise awareness about the one-child policy, pointing to the resources on her group’s website as a place to start. The video, “Stop Forced Abortion: China’s War Against Women,” gives a short, but good introduction that can easily be shared on social media to help spread information, she said.

She also suggested her organization’s “Save a Girl” campaign, which offers a monthly stipend for a year to mothers who are considering aborting their babies, simply because they are girls, as a way to give assistance.

After being offered the stipend, in “ninety-five percent of the cases, women choose to keep their daughters,” Littlejohn noted.

“Whenever I feel sort of frustrated about the enormity of ending forced-abortion in China,” she said, “I’ve got this binder of all these beautiful faces of these baby girls that we’re saving.”

“We’re ending gendercide, we’re ending forced abortion one baby at a time.”

Tags: Human rights, One-Child Policy, Violence against women

Posted in China's One Child Policy, coerced abortion, Forced Abortion, forced sterilization, gendercide, One Child Policy, pro-life, Reggie Littlejohn, reproductive health, reproductive rights, Save a Girl, Uncategorized, war on women, Women's Rights Without Frontiers | Comments Off on One Child Policy Still Massive Threat to Women, Expert Warns

WRWF’s Reggie Littlejohn Meets Pope Francis at the Vatican

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Reggie Littlejohn

Reggie Littlejohn meets Pope Francis in the Vatican on September 20, 2013

Last week, while in Rome, Reggie Littlejohn had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis during an audience arranged by MaterCare.  Littlejohn stated, “I have greatly admired Pope Francis but never thought I would have the opportunity to meet him face to face.

WRWF's Reggie Littlejohn Meets Pope Francis

It was an overwhelming experience to shake his hand and to tell him of our work fighting forced abortion and saving baby girls from sex-selective abortion.  He has a warm, humble and profound presence.”  Littlejohn was in Rome to address the tenth anniversary international conference of MaterCare International, a Vatican-related non-profit that provides maternal healthcare to impoverished African women.

Littlejohn was also the featured speaker at the Rome premiere of the “It’s a Girl” film about gendercide and forced abortion in India and China.  She had previously spoken — together with filmmakers Evan Grae Davis and Andrew Brown — at the premieres of the film at the European and British Parliaments, as well as at the United States Capitol.

Click here for more information on MaterCare International.  http://www.matercare.org

Reggie in front of the Trevi Fountain with Rosanna del Buono, who organized the Rome premiere of “It’s a Girl.”

Click here for more information on the “It’s a Girl” film.  http://www.itsagirlmovie.com

Posted in Evan Grae Davis, It's a Girl | Comments Off on WRWF’s Reggie Littlejohn Meets Pope Francis at the Vatican

Jiangxi Woman Breaks Silence on Forced Abortion at Nine Months

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Reggie Littlejohn

According to a Chinese news report, Lili Zeng from Youshan Borough, Xinfeng County, Jiangxi Province in China, was forcibly aborted at nine months. Her baby boy was born alive and died in her arms. She said she felt “as if I were a pig waiting to be slaughtered.”

After repeated requests to the Family Planning Office for an explanation, Ms. Zeng reportedly received a lengthy communication from a Family Planning Officer stating that she had been forcibly aborted at the request of her ex-husband’s first wife, with whom he has a son. Her ex-husband (assumed to be her husband at the time), signed the consent form for the forced abortion. According to the report, the Family Planning Officer told Ms. Zeng:

If you want to blame someone, please blame the [One-Child] Policy, or your husband. If he had not agreed to sign the form, no doctor would have dared to inject the induced labor needle into your body. Lili Zeng . . . if you continue to send text messages or call to berate me, I will definitely find someone to deal with you.

Ms. Zeng states she has attempted suicide three times since the forced abortion. Although the forced abortion occurred in 2011, Ms. Zeng has broken her silence in an attempt to seek justice.

Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers stated: “Our hearts break for Ms. Zeng, who has endured forced abortion at nine months and whose baby died in her arms. Her experience dramatically demonstrates the connection between forced abortion and China’s astronomical female suicide rate: 590 women a day end their lives in China. Her experience shows that full-term babies born alive after a botched forced abortion may be left to die. Her experience also shows that a woman can be forcibly aborted up to the ninth month of pregnancy with the consent of her presumed husband. We strongly condemn forced abortion under China’s One Child Policy and demand that the Chinese government put a stop to these atrocities immediately.”

Read the original report in Chinese:

http://bbs.tianya.cn/post-no110-13457901-1.shtml

Read an English translation of the full report:

http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=1327

Watch a four-minute video: “Stop Forced abortion, China’s War Against Women”:

http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/?nav=stop-forced-abortion

Sign a petition against forced abortion in China:

http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/index.php?nav=sign_our_petition

Posted in China, China's One Child Policy, coerced abortion, female suicide, Forced Abortion, forced sterilization, human dignity, Human Rights, One Child Policy, pro-choice, pro-life, Reggie Littlejohn, reproductive health, reproductive rights, right to choose, Uncategorized, war on women, women's rights, Women's Rights Without Frontiers | Comments Off on Jiangxi Woman Breaks Silence on Forced Abortion at Nine Months

China: Woman Forcibly Aborted at Nine Months, Baby Born Alive, Left to Die

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Reggie Littlejohn

What follows is the English translation of a Chinese news report about a Jiangxi woman who was forcibly aborted at nine months. The baby was born alive and died in her arms. She has since attempted suicide three times. Silent for years, she has now come forward to seek justice.

On January 11, 2011, nine months into my pregnancy and two days before my baby boy was due, seven family planning officials held down my body and forcibly aborted my baby by needle injection because I did not have a “birth permit.” This happened before I could notify my family. My child died so pitifully. I cried bitterly when they injected the abortion needle into my body, but I heard the family planning officers – headed by their director – laughing treacherously. After the needle injection, they all disappeared, as if I were a pig waiting to be slaughtered. That night, I gave birth to a boy; he was still alive, breathing. I asked for help, but no one answered me. I passed out because I was exhausted from the pain in my abdomen. The next day, when I woke up, my baby died. I painfully held the baby for a very long time until the body of the baby stiffened.

On the third day, a person gave me a “certificate” indicating that the baby was aborted at seven months into my pregnancy, but in fact I have appointment records from my obstetrician proving that I was really nine months pregnant. I really wanted to kill the family planning officials before I killed myself, but I want to understand why (this happened) before I die.

After I was discharged from the hospital on the fourth day, I braved the cold wind and went to the family planning office seeking justice, but I was ignored. From then on I could not control my tears, I could not eat for days, I was dazed, and I lost weight rapidly. Recently, I have been searching for evidence. A few days ago, I called the female Family Planning Official, and she eventually told me the truth. Before I continue, I would like to make one clarification: When my child was forcibly aborted, I had been divorced from the child’s father for a year. Some people said that he was still my husband, but we were officially divorced. The following information is from the Family Planning Official, and it is the truth:

Hello. You have recently chastised me over the phone and by text messages, but what have I done to offend you? I will now tell you the events leading up to your induced labor. At the time, your husband’s ex-wife had been coming in to our office every morning for a whole week. She said that her husband had a woman named Lili Zeng who was pregnant. She asked us to help her (the ex-wife). At first, the Family Planning Officials tried to persuade her (the ex-wife) to talk to her husband and resolve the issue within the family. But, one week later, we received a phone call from the County Family Planning Office (one level above us). They said that a mother and her son had visited their office, and claimed that the Jia-Ding family planning office neglected their request and ignored the unplanned pregnancy. They said that the Family Planning Office was unwilling to do the unplanned pregnancy abortion, and they asked me to come to the County Family Planning Office to deal with the issue. When I arrived, I asked the mother and her son, “Where is Lili Zeng living?” They said that she lived in Ganzhou city, which is outside of our administration area. The son said that he would convince his father to bring Lili Zeng back to Xin Feng Borough. According to the policy at the time, induced labor had to be agreed upon and signed for by the father.


You were having breakfast in Shui Bei grocery market when your husband called Jia Ding Borough office and asked us, the Family Planning Office, to send people to persuade you to agree on an induced labor. After we arrived back at the Family Planning Office with you and your husband, he signed the “induced labor acknowledgement form” with everyone in our office as witnesses. Lili Zeng, I have nothing against you; I am just an executer of the policy. If I were not the Family Planning Director, there would be somebody else who would have handled the situation the same way and your fate would have been the same. If you want to blame someone, please blame the [One-Child] Policy, or your husband. If he had not agreed to sign the form, no doctor would have dared to inject the induced labor needle into your body. Lili Zeng, because we are both from Youshan Borough, I forgive you for scolding me. But if you continue to send text messages or call to berate me, I will definitely find someone to deal with you.

Over the years I have suffered so much unbearable pain that I am not sure how I will continue to live without receiving justice. I attempted suicide three times. I really hope that there are some media that could help me. I am from Youshan Borough, Xinfeng County, [Jiangxi Province].

–translated by Linghou Ba

The original post in Chinese (posted by Xiao Meng) can be found here:
http://bbs.tianya.cn/post-no110-13457901-1.shtml

Posted in abortion, China, China's One Child Policy, coerced abortion, female suicide, Forced Abortion, human dignity, Human Rights, One Child Policy, pro-choice, pro-life, Reggie Littlejohn, reproductive rights, Uncategorized, war on women, women's rights, Women's Rights Without Frontiers | 1 Comment

WRWF’s Complaint to the U.N. Condemns Maiming and Death Under China’s One Child Policy

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Reggie Littlejohn

Women’s Rights Without Frontiers has filed a Complaint with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) against the Chinese Government for the coercive enforcement of China’s One Child Policy.  The Complaint chronicles the history of barbarous reports emerging from China since the beginning of this year, for example:

  • On February 4, 2013, Family Planning Officials got into an argument with a couple who had three children.  In the tussle that followed, these Officials ran over the couple’s thirteen-month-old baby with their car, killing him. http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=938
    • On May 15, 2013, in Xinyi City, Jiangsu Province, more than 20 Family Planning Officials beat a farmer almost to death, because he and his wife have three children.  Zhang Futao suffered severe head injuries and is in critical condition from the beating.  According to the family, he suffered a fractured skull and a brain hemorrhage. http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=1136

The Complaint discusses the connection between China’s One Child Policy and sexual slavery, as well as a recent study finding that multiple abortions lead to low birth weight and an increased risk of death to children born in subsequent pregnancies. The Complaint acknowledges the UNCSW for its “Agreed Conclusions” condemning forced abortion, sterilization and contraception. It nevertheless challenges the UNCSW to investigate the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), which was found to be complicit with coercive family planning by former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

WRWF President Reggie Littlejohn stated: “The mayhem caused by China’s One Child Policy continues unabated. Forced abortion is Official Government Rape. Not only women, but also men and children have been maimed and killed under the policy. The report recounts a grim case of suicide, which graphically demonstrates why China has the highest female suicide rate in the world. We are dismayed that on January 14, 2013, Wang Xia, the Chair of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, stated that China “must unwaveringly adhere to the One Child Policy as a national policy to stabilize the low birth rate as the primary task.”  We call upon the Chinese Communist Party immediately to stop coercive family planning; and we call upon members of the international community to urge them to do so.”

The full Complaint can be read here: http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=1254

Sign a petition against forced abortion in China:
http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/index.php?nav=sign_our_petition

Watch a four-minute video, “Stop Forced Abortion – China’s War on Women”:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjtuBcJUsjY

Learn more about our campaign to save girls in China:
http://womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/index.php?nav=end-gendercide-and-forced-abortion

Posted in abortion, China's One Child Policy, coerced abortion, Forced Abortion, forced sterilization, One Child Policy, pro-choice, pro-life, Reggie Littlejohn, reproductive health, reproductive rights, right to choose, Save a Girl, Uncategorized, UNCSW, UNFPA, United Nations, war on women, Women's Rights Without Frontiers | Comments Off on WRWF’s Complaint to the U.N. Condemns Maiming and Death Under China’s One Child Policy

WRWF Lodges Complaint at United Nations Against Forced Abortion and Gendercide in China

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Reggie Littlejohn

Women’s Rights Without Frontiers today lodged the following “Complaint Concerning Coercive Population Control” with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women:

To the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW):

I am the founder and president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, a non-profit, non-partisan international coalition to combat forced abortion, gendercide and sexual slavery in China. I write to complain about coercive family planning in China.

As you know, WRWF has submitted Complaints for the past two years. While the UNCSW acknowledged receipt of these Complaints, China has never responded to them. We believe that, given the international outrage generated by forced abortion and gendercide in China, it behooves China to respond to our official Complaints.

UNCSW’s “Agreed Conclusions” Condemn Coercive Family Planning

The UNCSW’s topic for this year was “Elimination and Prevention of All Forms of Violence Against Women and Girls.” There is no greater violence against women than forced abortion, up to the ninth month of pregnancy. As demonstrated in the cases set forth below, the women themselves sometimes die as a result of these violent procedures. There is no greater violence against girls than gendercide, which has claimed up to 200 million lives of girls selected for abortion solely because they are girls.

Women’s Rights Without Frontiers was honored to make four presentations about forced abortion and gendercide in China at the UNCSW in March of this year. At three of them, we screened the “It’s a Girl” film, the authoritative documentary about gendercide in India and China. While WRWF does not support all the “Agreed Conclusions” that came out of the UNCSW 2013, we do commend the following language:

34. The Commission urges government, at all levels, and as appropriate, with the relevant entities of the United Nations system, international and regional organizations . . . to take the following actions:

. . . .

(aaa) Condemn and take action to prevent violence against women and girls in health-care settings, including . . . forced medical procedures, or those conducted without informed consent, and which may be irreversible, such as forced hysterectomy, forced caesarean section, forced sterilization, forced abortion, and forced use of contraceptives . . .[1]

These Agreed Conclusions represent the acknowledgement that forced medical procedures are a form of violence against women and call for an international condemnation of such procedures. WRWF feels that the voices of hundreds of millions of suffering Chinese women and girls were heard by the UNCSW, and for this we are grateful.

At the same time, these Agreed Conclusions are but the first step to end this form of gender violence. While the Agreed Conclusions condemn coercive family planning in the form of forced medical procedures, they take no stand on gendercide, the sex-selective abortion, abandonment and fatal neglect of baby girls. If the UNCSW stands for women’s rights, it must take a stand against the selective abortion of up to 200 million baby girls.

The Chinese government, moreover, is the major perpetrator in the world of “forced medical procedures” of the kind set forth in the UNCSW Agreed Conclusions. The UNCSW should put teeth into its Agreed Conclusions by presenting this Complaint to the Chinese government and requiring a response.

WRWF Calls for an Investigation of UNFPA

The UNCSW, moreover, should follow its own advice to “condemn and take action to prevent violence against women . . .” by thoroughly investigating the activities of the UNFPA in China. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell found the UNFPA to be complicit with coercive family planning in China. WRWF believes that any independent investigation of the UNFPA’s current practices would arrive at the same conclusion.

The UNCSW would not be the first to undertake such an investigation. In a striking blow against China’s One Child Policy, the European Parliament passed a resolution strongly condemning forced abortion and involuntary sterilization in China and globally, citing Feng Jianmei, who was forcibly aborted at seven months in June, 2012. Specifically, the resolution, 2012/2712 (RSP) “strongly condemns the decision to force Ms. Feng to have an abortion and condemns the practice of forced abortions and sterilizations globally, especially in the context of the one–child policy.” The resolution further states that “the EU has provided, and still provides, funds for organizations involved in family planning policies in China,” and “urges the Commission to ensure that its funding of projects does not breach” the European Parliament’s commitment against coercive population control.

It is significant that the European Parliament has acknowledged that it provides funding for family planning in China and has urged the Commission to ensure that this funding is not associated with coercion.  For decades, the UNFPA has worked hand in hand with the Chinese population control machine, which is coercive.  We have no doubt that any unbiased investigation by the European Parliament, the United Nations, or any other governmental body will reveal that UNFPA is complicit with coercive family planning in China. The UNCSW should likewise undertake such an investigation.

The One Child Policy causes more violence against women and girls than any other official policy on earth.

It is China’s war on women. Any discussion of women’s rights, or human rights, would be a charade if forced abortion in China is not front and center. It does not matter whether you are pro-life or pro-choice on this issue. No one supports forced abortion, because it is not a choice. Here is a video in which former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, strongly condemns coercive family planning in China. http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/index.php?nav=hillary_clinton

This violence became increasingly evident in the past year, giving rise to both international and domestic criticism of the One Child Policy. We had hoped that when President Xi Jinping succeeded former President Hu Jintao, we would see reform of violent family planning practices. Unfortunately, such has not been the case.

To the contrary, just this year there has been much suffering caused by the One Child Policy.  We are aware that the cases that make it to the West are just the tip of the iceberg.  For every family that posts their experience of heartbreak on the internet, there are thousands or millions that suffer silently. Every month has brought a fresh atrocity:

  • On January 14, 2013, Wang Xia, the Chair of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, stated that China “must unwaveringly adhere to the One Child Policy as a national policy to stabilize the low birth rate as the primary task.”  See, “Chinese Official Plans to Keep the One Child Policy, Says Maintaining Low Birth Rate is a Priority.”  http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=904
  • On February 4, 2013, Family Planning Officials got into an argument with a couple who had three children.  In the tussle that followed, these Officials ran over the couple’s thirteen month old baby with their car, killing him.  See, “Father’s Interview about baby crushed to death during One Child Policy enforcement confirms violent coercion.”  http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=938
  • On March 14, 2013, it was reported that Yang Yuzhi hung herself in the Family Planning Office of Beizhanglou Village, Taikang County, Henan Province.  Forcibly sterilized twice, she had for years suffered chronic pain from these traumatic procedures.  Her medication drained the family finances, so she regularly petitioned the Family Planning Office for compensation, to no avail.  Yang’s death also emphasizes the absence of the rule of law in China.  She died while petitioning for justice.  See, “Woman’s death by hanging at Family Planning Office – Suicide or Something Else?  [Warning, Graphic Photo],”  http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=986
  • On April 24, 2013, Congressman Chris Smith and Women’s Rights Without Frontiers attempted to deliver to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC 200,000 signatures on petitions against forced abortion and gendercide in China.  The Embassy would not open its door to accept the signatures, but rather refused them.  See, “Chinese Embassy refuses petition on gendercide, forced abortion in China.”  http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=1109
  • On April 25, 2013, the relatives of blind forced abortion opponent Chen Guangcheng received death threats.  Chen’s nephew, Chen Kegui, had acute appendicitis, for which he was not allowed out of the prison for possible surgery.  Kegui had been detained in 2012 for defending himself with a kitchen knife when government thugs attacked him and his family upon the discovery that Chen Guangcheng had escaped.  See, “Blind activist Chen Guangcheng’s relatives receive death threats.” http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=1058
    • On May 15, 2013, in Xinyi City, Jiangsu Province, more than 20 Family Planning Officials beat a farmer almost to death, because he and his wife have three children.  Zhang Futao suffered severe head injuries and is in critical condition from the beating.  According to the family, he has a fractured skull and a brain hemorrhage. His three children are ages 12, 6 and 4.  See, “Family Planning Officials Fracture Skull of Family of Three.”  http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=1136
  • On May 29, 2013, it was reported that a 22 year old woman flushed her newborn baby boy down a toilet.  We believe that this desperate act was not unrelated to the fact that she was 22 years old, unmarried, and without a birth permit.  See, “Flushed down toilet, Chinese baby survives.”  http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/28/world/asia/china-baby-rescue
    • On June 3, 2013, the China Daily reported that a city in central China is considering the implementation of a new law that would fine unwed mothers up to three times their annual income.  This law would likely increase the incidence of forced abortions for those women who could not afford to pay such a steep fine on an emergency basis.  See, “New law would fine unmarried mothers.”  http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2013-06/03/content_16558001.htm

China’s One Child Policy Causes Sexual Slavery

The State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons or TIP Report recently downgraded China to a Tier 3 nation – a status it now shares with Iran, Sudan and North Korea. Tier 3 nations may be subject to sanctions, if approved by the U.S. President. http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2013/

The TIP Report discusses how China’s One Child Policy, combined with son preference, has caused a gender imbalance that is driving human trafficking and sexual slavery, not only within China but from the surrounding countries as well. The Report lists the many nations from which women and girls are trafficked into China: “Women and children from neighboring Asian countries, including Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Singapore, Mongolia, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), as well as from Russia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, are reportedly trafficked to China for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor.”

The TIP Report finds that, despite the prevalence of human trafficking and sexual slavery, the Chinese government’s efforts at prevention fall below minimum standards. In fact, the Report finds that many state-run institutions were complicit in the trafficking: “ . . . The Chinese government did not demonstrate significant efforts to comprehensively prohibit and punish all forms of trafficking and to prosecute traffickers. The government continued to perpetuate human trafficking in at least 320 state-run institutions, while helping victims of human trafficking in only seven.”

The TIP Report further criticizes the Chinese government for failing to “address the effects its birth limitation policy had in creating a gender imbalance and fueling trafficking, particularly through bride trafficking and forced marriage.”

Forced Abortion in China: Study finds Correlation with Low Birth Weight, Increased Chance of Death in Subsequent Pregnancies

A dissertation submitted to the University of Hong Kong found that children in China are more likely to face serious health complications, including death, if their mothers have had multiple induced abortions. The study concluded that having more than one abortion increases the risk of low birth weight in subsequent pregnancies. Indeed, women who have had three or more induced abortions are at five times the risk of preterm birth in a subsequent pregnancy.

The study, conducted by Cui Limin, explained that nearly two thirds of neonatal deaths are related to low birth weight. For children surviving infancy, LBW increases the risk of neuron-developmental problems, respiratory tract infections, and behavioral problems.[2] According to the study, those with very LBW suffer from conditions including cerebral palsy, blindness, impaired hearing and learning disabilities. Besides harming the child, these health problems put extra financial strain on parents, the study noted.

Women in China are forced into induced-labor abortions, up to the ninth month of pregnancy. This is a violation of women’s rights of the first degree. We are now learning that these forced abortions also put their future children at risk for respiratory complications, cerebral palsy, and even death related to low birth weight. They also may damage a woman’s future reproductive and general health. This is a violation of the women’s rights and the rights of their future children.  Forced abortion must be stopped, and families should be compensated if their children experience health problems caused by previous induced labor forced abortions.

According to the study, 14.37 million induced abortions were performed in 2012 – one quarter of the abortions in the world — many of which were repeat abortions. The study credited the One-Child Policy as “one of the most important factors for the increased induced abortion rate,” and cited the prevalence of forced and sex-selective abortions in China.

On April 24, 2013, Congressman Chris Smith, “It’s a Girl” film director Evan Grae Davis and I attempted to deliver these petition signatures to the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C. The Embassy refused to accept the signatures. This refusal is symbolic of the way that the Chinese Communist Party turns a deaf ear to all those who criticize its human rights record. They may have refused to accept our petition, but they will not silence the growing international outcry against this brutal crime against humanity. http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=1109

Forced Abortion Is Official Government Rape

The Chinese forced abortion policy is systematic, institutionalized violence against women. Because of the sheer numbers involved, it is the most massive women’s rights issue in the world today, and it must be stopped.

I hope to work with you to help end this extremely serious violation of the rights of women and girls in China. Please feel free to contact me should you require any further information.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

Very truly yours,

Reggie Littlejohn

Reggie Littlejohn, President

Women’s Rights Without Frontiers

www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org

Stop Forced Abortion – China’s War on Women! Video (4 mins)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjtuBcJUsjY

[1] Agreed conclusions on the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls, UNCSW 2013, pp. 5, 14. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw57/CSW57_Agreed_Conclusions_%28CSW_report_excerpt%29.pdf

[2] Read the Study: The Effect of Induced Abortion on the Risk of Low Birth Weight, Cui Limin http://hub.hku.hk/bitstream/10722/183648/1/FullText.pdf?accept=1

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