Cruel Cut: Powerful incentives protect one-child policy on mainland despite reform calls

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Reggie Littlejohn

Dr. Jackie Sheehan says powerful financial and personal incentives for local officials will ensure forced abortions and sterilisations continue on mainland despite calls to reform family planning laws

Updated on Jul 25, 2012
Two recent high-profile forced abortions have again fuelled debate over Beijing’s controversial one-child policy.

In June, a photograph of Feng Jianmei lying exhausted in her hospital bed next to the seven-month-old fetus she was compelled to abort was published across the world’s media. If the publication of such graphic evidence is unusual, forced third-trimester abortions on the mainland are not.

In April, Pan Chunyan was forced to put her fingerprint on a document, unwittingly agreeing to undergo an abortion in her eighth month of pregnancy, having already paid a 20,000-yuan (HK$24,500) “social compensation fee” and agreed to pay 55,000 yuan more.

In Feng’s case, the authorities have agreed to a 70,600-yuan compensation deal with her family. But despite renewed calls from government researchers and academics to amend the one-child policy, these abuses will continue.

Coercion and violence are integral parts of the system. The people who track down pregnant women to carry out unwanted terminations do it not because they are evil or unfeeling. They do it because of powerful incentives to meet family-planning targets.

Disappointing their superiors by failing to meet targets has serious career consequences, whereas violating the rights of ordinary citizens, an occasional international scandal notwithstanding, results only in temporary suspension or demotion. The understanding is that local officials do whatever dirty work is necessary to keep the numbers right and in turn their bosses look after their interests.

The head of Feng’s local family-planning bureau has reportedly been removed from his post. It would be surprising if he were not, inside a year, either back in the job or in another one of equal or greater rank.

Take the case of Li Qun, mayor of Linyi , a small city in eastern Shandong province. In 2005, activist Chen Guangcheng , now in the United States after his dramatic escape from more than two years of house arrest, exposed forced abortions and sterilisations in the city.

Li lost the mayor’s job, but was later appointed to the more prestigious post of Communist Party secretary of Qingdao , Shandong’s major commercial city.

Others implicated in the Feng affair face only “administrative demerits” and, if they continue their jobs with enough zeal, there will be opportunities to move up the career ladder.

Beijing introduced the one-child policy in the late 1970s. In 2002, the law was amended to allow certain couples to have a second child, provided they pay a penalty.

These social compensation fees have become a vital component of local officials’ income, covering overtime, bonuses, pensions and travel expenses. China Human Rights Defenders has highlighted the financial rewards and penalties on offer to family-planning officials on performance-related pay. Officials lose points for every out-of-quota birth in their area and earn cash bonuses for every abortion and sterilisation they enforce.

In a township in Anhui province, for each birth out of quota and each mandated sterilisation not carried out, five points were deducted from an official’s score. Teams of village officials competed for a 1,000-yuan bonus for the top-scoring team, while those from the last-placed village were named and shamed.

In one Guangdong county, it was officials who did not apply illegal methods who were disciplined, not the ones who “spared no effort” to carry out 5,601 sterilisations out of a target of 9,559 in April 2010.

During a “spring enforcement campaign” – taking advantage of migrant workers returning to their home provinces for the Lunar New Year – or any time an area is over its quota for unauthorised pregnancies, desperate officials resort to forced abortions and sterilisations.

Other illegal methods, aside from detentions and beatings, include the cancellation of hukou – the official household registration that governs access to basic services. Officials can deny parents permission to register a child born in contravention of family-planning regulations until a social compensation fee has been paid. Without hukou, “black” children – as in “black market” – cannot get a place at school.

Some schools will take them for a substantial fee, but it does not buy an equal education. They may be taught by different teachers and even have to wear different uniforms. The problems for unregistered children persist into adulthood, barring their whole family from state employment and the child from applying to university. In addition, most hospitals refuse to treat anyone without local hukou.

The hukou system and one-child policy are interlinked, and not only by calls for their abolition. Hukou is essentially a system for rationing access to scarce urban housing, jobs and welfare, and the central government can’t afford to abandon it just yet.

As urbanisation creates better opportunities in smaller cities, the pressure of people wanting to move to the biggest cities will ease, making both hukou and the one-child policy less necessary. Urban couples do not depend on their sons for security as rural families do and have fewer children.

This obedience to the rules of urban couples will kill the one-child policy eventually, when the mainland’s swelling generations of grandparents and great-grandparents can no longer be supported by the working-age population.

Feng Jianmei’s family have been called traitors for speaking to foreign media and have had demonstrators organised by officials surrounding their home. Even if more women were to brave the risks of going public, until it ceases to be in the state’s interests to enforce the one-child policy, the complaints of a few brave individuals will not stop official abuses of power.

Dr Jackie Sheehan is senior fellow at the China Policy Institute and associate professor at the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham

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Principles of Corporate Social Responsibility in China Concerning Coercive Family Planning

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Reggie Littlejohn

Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, drafted these Principles, which she sent to Tim Cook, President of Apple Computer, on August 30, 2012, together with blind activist Chen Guangcheng, human rights activist Andrew Duncan, China Aid President Bob Fu.

Principles for Corporate Social Responsibility in China

Concerning Coercive Family Planning

The Principles:

As a company that voluntarily endorses the Principles for Corporate Social Responsibility in China Concerning Coercive Family Planning (“Principles”), we pledge to apply these Principles in conducting our business in China. We will design and deploy a corporate code of conduct, including policies, procedures, training and internal reporting structures to ensure adherence to these Principles when conducting business in China. We believe the application of these Principles will achieve greater equality for women and avoid complicity with violence against our female employees, perpetrated in connection with our enterprise in China.
Accordingly, we will:
(1) Refuse to practice, collaborate with or tolerate any aspect of coercive family planning on our premises or in connection with our employees, whether on or off premises.

(2) Prohibit the presence of any Family Planning Personnel on the premises of our businesses; prohibit any access of Family Planning Police or other Family Planning Officials to the employees of our businesses; refuse to issue any report or allow the creation of any report concerning the fertility or reproductive status concerning any employee or group of employees of our businesses.

(3) Refuse to allow on our premises or elsewhere in connection with our employees:

  • Forced abortion
  • Forced sterilization
  • The tracking of the menstrual cycles
  • The insertion of IUDs
  • The administration of cervical checks
  • The monitoring of fertility
  • The issuance of threats or seizure in connection with population control
  • The use of physical violence
  • The use of economic, social or political pressure
  • The use of informants, whether paid or unpaid
  • The seizure or detention of illegally pregnant women or members of our families
  • The issuance of birth permits
  • The collection of family planning fines
  • The punishment of One Child Policy violators, their families or co-workers

(4) Refuse to report, or allow to be reported, women who are pregnant without birth permits or who have otherwise violated family planning laws in China.

(5) Communicate with the Government of the People’s Republic of China to urge that Government to end forced abortion, forced sterilization, forced contraception and any other form of coercive family planning in China.

(6) Report and otherwise collaborate in the prosecution or holding accountable of any Chinese national who attempts to practice coercive family planning against any employee of our company, whether this coercion takes place on or off premises.

We will be transparent in our implementation of these principles and provide information that demonstrates publicly our commitment to them.

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Reggie Littlejohn joins Chen Guangcheng in Challenging Apple: Letter

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Reggie Littlejohn

Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, has joined forces with blind activist Chen Guangcheng, human rights activist Andrew Duncan, and China Aid President Bob Fu, in sending a letter to Apple President Tim Cook, concerning Apple products made in China.  Reggie Littlejohn stated, “We are challenging Apple to assure customers that products made in China are not made in facilities that practice coercive family planning or stifle free speech.  According to Apple’s own 2012 internal investigation, 24 Apple facilities conducted pregnancy tests, and 56 facilities did not have policies and procedures that prohibit discriminatory practices based on pregnancy.  Apple says that it has required that these practices must stop.  Apple, however,  has been auditing its facilities since 2006.  Why, then, is it still the case that pregnancy testing is reported as rampant? Either Apple’s requirement that these practices must stop is new, or its policies to implement it are ineffectual.”

Littlejohn continued, “We want to know what has happened to women at Apple factories when they have been found to be pregnant without a birth permit.  Have they been referred for a forced abortion or involuntary sterilization?  With the one child/forced abortion law in place, how can Apple assure consumers that its products are made in facilities free of coercive population control?

“We are also asking Apple to take the lead in endorsing our ‘Principles of Corporate Responsibility,’ in which multinational corporations will refuse to comply with coercive family planning practices at their facilities in China.”

To date, the group has received no response from Apple.

Bloomberg has written about this action challenging Apple:

Apple Urged by China Dissident to Act Against One Child Rule

http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-M9UPQG6K50YC01-6KA31T5UB0QAGCMLLDB8N30G5G

Below is the text of the original letter that went out to Tim Cook.  Following that is the text of the “Principles for Corporate Social Responsibility in China Concerning Coercive Family Planning.”

August 30, 2012

SENT VIA EMAIL AND FAX

Dear Mr. Cook,

We write concerning Apple’s business enterprise in China as it may intersect with Chinese human rights abuses perpetrated in the workplace – specifically, forced abortion and coercive family planning.

As you may be aware, one of the signatories of this letter, blind forced abortion opponent Chen Guangcheng, escaped house arrest earlier this year in China and subsequently made his way to the United States Embassy in Beijing, and eventually was allowed to leave China to study law in the United States.  Due to the persecution of his family who were left behind (including a trumped up murder charge against his nephew), Mr. Chen felt compelled to accept the invitation of United States lawmakers on August 1, 2012 to visit the U.S. Capitol.

During that visit, Speaker of the House Boehner (later reaffirmed by House Minority Leader Pelosi) stated that it was time to “hold the Chinese government to account” on freedom of speech and the “reprehensible” one child/forced abortion policy. Here is a link to these speeches:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz54u93zLto&feature=player_embedded.

That same day Mr Chen met with senior staff members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee along with Senators Kerry and Cornyn, who have both also taken a strong leadership position in support of Mr. Chen and Chinese human rights.

The bipartisan statement regarding “holding the Chinese government to account” was significant. Current United States foreign policy towards China has purposely separated human rights issues from economic issues.  China’s human rights record has deteriorated.  As reported in this New York Times article, Apple has been working to resolve human rights issues in connection with Foxconn (Hon Hai). http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/business/apple-supplier-in-china-pledges-changes-in-working-conditions.html?pagewanted=all

Human rights can no longer be separated from economic issues.  With China’s current economic slow-down and a major transition in senior leadership on the horizon, we believe that we are entering a window of opportunity to have a positive impact on human rights.  With Congressional leadership support, the policy of separating our economic relationship from human rights in China must change.

As you know from Apple’s own internal investigation, “24 [Apple] facilities conducted pregnancy tests, and 56 facilities did not have policies and procedures that prohibit discriminatory practices based on pregnancy.”

http://images.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2012_Progress_Report.pdf

Apple’s response states that the company has required that these practices must stop.  According to the New York Times report above, Apple has been auditing its facilities since 2006.  Why, then, is it still the case that pregnancy testing is reported as rampant in Apple’s 2012 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report? Either Apple’s requirement that these practices must stop is new, or its policies to implement it are ineffectual.

When women are found to be pregnant without a birth permit, are they referred for a forced abortion?  With the one child/forced abortion law in place, how can Apple assure consumers that its products are made in facilities free of coercive population control? No matter what one’s personal view is on abortion –forced abortion is unacceptable.

Below is an excerpt from the September 22, 2011 Congressional testimony of Liu Ping, who was the victim of forced abortion at the hands of the Family Planning Commission in her factory:

My factory’s Family Planning Commission used three levels of control:  at the factory level, in the factory clinic and on the factory floor. There was a system of  collective punishment: if one worker violated the rules, all would be punished. Workers monitored each other. Women of reproductive age accounted for 60% of my factory floor.  Colleagues were suspicious and hostile to each other because of the One-Child Policy. Two of my pregnancies were reported by my colleagues to the Family Planning Commission.  When discovered, pregnant women would be dragged to undergo forced abortions—there simply was no other choice. We had no dignity as potential child-bearers. By order of the factory’s Family Planning Commission, every month during their menstrual period, women had to undress in front of the birth planning doctor for examination. If anyone skipped the examination, she would be forced to take a pregnancy test at the hospital. We were allowed to collect a salary only after it was confirmed that we were not pregnant.

We are concerned that such practices may still be in force at Chinese factories today, including factories owned by multinationals. We are sure that Apple would be appalled to learn that anything like this could happen at an Apple facility.  Since dozens of Apple facilities have required pregnancy testing, however, it is a legitimate concern that they may also have been complicit with forced abortion under the One Child Policy, as described in Ms. Liu’s shocking testimony.  Would Apple allow an outside group to investigate whether coercive family planning occurs at Apple facilities?

As reported by this USA Today cover story, the One Child Policy continues to be enforced. This policy goes against a woman’s fundamental human right to choose to give birth to a child.  Forced abortion is official government rape.  It is a form of torture.

http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2012-07-25-China-abortionART_CV_U.htm

Additionally, freedom of speech is not allowed in China. Apple’s distinguished Board of Directors includes former Vice President Al Gore, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. While Apple makes millions of iPhones and iPads in China, Mr. Gore’s fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Liu Xiaobo, remains imprisoned. His chair remains empty in Oslo for only having exercised his fundamental right to free speech.  Similarly, Chen Guangcheng was jailed, tortured and denied medical treatment for years because he exposed the massive, systematic use of forced abortion and sterilization in Linyi City under the One Child Policy.  It is a striking irony that your great products promote free speech while being manufactured in a nation that suppresses free speech.

Pursuant to Speaker Boehner’s bipartisan comments, we, as signatories, are committed to assisting the United States Congress in working to “hold China to account.” Our effort is focused on how to insure accountability without penalizing shareholder interests of any United States corporations. We are also committed to future consumer education efforts if necessary – informing the world about the potential complicity of U.S. and other foreign corporations in coercive population control in China.

We invite Apple to champion this cause.  Here is what we ask:

1)  Apple is in a unique position to take a leadership role in standing up against coercive family planning in China.  Attached are our Principles for Corporate Social Responsibility in China Concerning Coercive Family Planning.  We ask that Apple endorse them.  Apple’s endorsement will have a major impact on ending coercive family planning in China, sending a message to the Chinese Communist Party, other American businesses, and the world, that Apple will not comply with violent population control.

2)  We ask that Apple would leverage its clout to demand that China release Liu Xiaobo; ratify into law the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which establishes an array of human rights, including freedom of expression (Article 19); and end forced abortion and other coercive population control, within three months of the date of the demand.

3)  Should the Chinese government fail timely to agree with respect to Apple’s demands,  we request that Apple would agree to draw up a plan to withdraw manufacturing of all Apple products from China.  This courageous act by Apple on behalf of the many people who are suffering horrific human rights abuses would have an incalculable impact to further the cause of human rights in China.  We will call upon other U.S. companies to follow.  As the world’s most valuable company, and as one that has profited much from the hard labor of the Chinese people, this could be Apple’s legacy to the Chinese people and to the world.

4)  In September, we are going to work with members of Congress to secure a bill that would allow Apple a one time waiver to repatriate tax-free the over $74 billion in Apple profits currently in off-shore accounts. Based on the current effective tax rate, this would provide Apple and its shareholders with over a $25 billion windfall for simply doing the right thing.   Should this bill pass, we ask that Apple would repatriate these off-shore profits.

Some key members of Congress from both parties have already agreed to support our efforts next month.   As demonstrated at Chen Guangcheng’s August 1 press conference, we have bipartisan support from influential members of Congress as it pertains to Chinese human rights. Our effort now is to assist Congress in implementing their stated goal of  “holding China to account.” As the world’s most valuable company, Apple has a unique opportunity to demonstrate corporate global leadership.

We would deeply appreciate the opportunity to meet with you to discuss Apple’s position on our proposal and human rights policies as they pertain to China.  We respectfully request you to watch the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjtuBcJUsjY

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Very truly yours,

Andrew Duncan, Human Rights Advocate

Chen Guangcheng, Blind human rights lawyer and former prisoner

Bob Fu, President, China Aid Association

Reggie Littlejohn, President, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers

Principles for Corporate Social Responsibility in China

Concerning Coercive Family Planning

The Principles:

As a company that voluntarily endorses the Principles for Corporate Social Responsibility in China Concerning Coercive Family Planning (“Principles”), we pledge to apply these Principles in conducting our business in China. We will design and deploy a corporate code of conduct, including policies, procedures, training and internal reporting structures to ensure adherence to these Principles when conducting business in China. We believe the application of these Principles will achieve greater equality for women and avoid complicity with violence against our female employees, perpetrated in connection with our enterprise in China.
Accordingly, we will:
(1) Refuse to practice, collaborate with or tolerate any aspect of coercive family planning on our premises or in connection with our employees, whether on or off premises.

(2) Prohibit the presence of any Family Planning Personnel on the premises of our businesses; prohibit any access of Family Planning Police or other Family Planning Officials to the employees of our businesses; refuse to issue any report or allow the creation of any report concerning the fertility or reproductive status concerning any employee or group of employees of our businesses.

(3) Refuse to allow on our premises or elsewhere in connection with our employees:

  • Forced abortion
  • Forced sterilization
  • The tracking of the menstrual cycles
  • The insertion of IUDs
  • The administration of cervical checks
  • The monitoring of fertility
  • The issuance of threats or seizure in connection with population control
  • The use of physical violence
  • The use of economic, social or political pressure
  • The use of informants, whether paid or unpaid
  • The seizure or detention of illegally pregnant women or members of our families
  • The issuance of birth permits
  • The collection of family planning fines
  • The punishment of One Child Policy violators, their families or co-workers

(4) Refuse to report, or allow to be reported, women who are pregnant without birth permits or who have otherwise violated family planning laws in China.

(5) Communicate with the Government of the People’s Republic of China to urge that Government to end forced abortion, forced sterilization, forced contraception and any other form of coercive family planning in China.

(6) Report and otherwise collaborate in the prosecution or holding accountable of any Chinese national who attempts to practice coercive family planning against any employee of our company, whether this coercion takes place on or off premises.

We will be transparent in our implementation of these principles and provide information that demonstrates publicly our commitment to them.

Posted in abortion, China, China's One Child Policy, coerced abortion, Forced Abortion, One Child Policy, pro-choice, pro-life, Reggie Littlejohn, Uncategorized, Women's Rights Without Frontiers | Comments Off on Reggie Littlejohn joins Chen Guangcheng in Challenging Apple: Letter

China’s Coercive Population Control: WRWF Files Complaint Against China

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Reggie Littlejohn

Here is the text of the Complaint against China concerning coercive population control, filed today by Women’s Rights Without Frontiers.

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 and to call for an investigation into UNFPA, which has been working hand in hand with the Chinese Communist population control apparatus for 30 years.

As you know, WRWF submitted a Complaint this time last year.  While the UNCSW acknowledged receipt of this Complaint, China never responded to it.  We believe that, given the international outrage generated by the case of Feng Jianmei, it behooves China to respond to our 2012 Complaint.

By way of introduction, please watch this four-minute video about forced abortion in China and our work to expose this egregious violation of human rights:

Stop Forced Abortion – China’s War on Women!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjtuBcJUsjY

Here is the link to our international petition to stop forced abortion in China.  As of today, we have more than 20,200 signatures from approximately 90 countries.

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

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.

This violence became increasingly evident in 2012, giving rise to both international and domestic criticism of the One Child Policy.  Here are some of the cases of forced abortion or sterilization that have arisen just this year.

Linyi City, Shandong Province. March 2012.  A photo of a forcibly aborted full term baby drowned in a bucket, submitted anonymously, circulated on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, and in the West.  The infant reportedly cried at birth, but was drowned in a bucket by family planning personnel.[1] Blind activist Chen Guangcheng comes from Linyi and was still under house arrest at the time news of this forced abortion broke. This incident demonstrates that forced abortion up to the ninth month of pregnancy still occurs in Linyi, as first disclosed by Chen in his report of 2005.[2]

Huangqiao Town, Jishui County, Jiangxi Province. March 2012.  On the eve of the U.S. – China Human Rights Dialogue, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers learned that a 46-year-old woman was forcibly sterilized, in retaliation for bringing a petition. The woman posted the following account on the internet:

On March 14, my husband was being escorted back from making a petition.  To retaliate for his petition, the town government sent more than 20 strong men.  I could no longer give birth to a child at that time, but they still dragged my legs, treated me like an animal, and forcibly performed a tubal ligation on the operating table of the Family Planning Office.  Guoqing Luo (the Deputy Town Secretary) also exclaimed, “The Government takes the consequences!  The Government has the money!”[3]

Cao Ruyi, Changsha City, Hunan Province. June 2012 and ongoing.  Five months pregnant, Cao Ruyi was detained by Family Planning Officials, who beat her husband and attempted to forcibly abort her.  They demanded that she pay the Chinese equivalent of approximately $24,000, or face forced abortion.  Because of international pressure, this amount was reduced and Cao was allowed to leave the hospital, but she remains in jeopardy.  Jing Zhang, President of Women’s Rights in China, has arranged for Cao Ruyi and her husband to remain in hiding until their baby is born.[4]

Feng Jianmei, Ankang City, Shaanxi Province. June 2, 2012.  Breaking within days of the case of Cao Ruyi, Feng Jianmei was forcibly aborted at seven months when she and her husband, Deng Jiyuan, could not pay a 40,000 yuan fine ($6300). Officials tried to force Feng into a car, but she escaped to her aunt’s house.  They broke through the gate, so she fled to the mountains, where officials found her hiding under a bed.  Her husband told The Economist, “They laughed when they found her.”[5] After forcibly aborting her baby, officials laid the bloody body of her dead daughter next to her in the bed.  The story and photograph, which WRWF broke to the west on June 12, 2012, immediately went viral, sent shockwaves around the world, and ignited a firestorm of outrage.[6]

In the aftermath, the local Ankang City government apologized, several officials were given administrative demerits, and one reportedly was terminated. The sincerity of these gestures, however, is questionable, given the fact that at the same time, protests were organized outside Feng’s family home.  Protesters carried a large banner reading “Beat the traitors, drive them from the town.”  According to local media reports, these protests were organized by local authorities, in retaliation for Deng’s interview with a German journalist.

Feng was held in the hospital for more than a month after her forced abortion.[7] Earlier, she had said that she was ready to leave the hospital and felt that remaining hospitalized weeks after the forced abortion felt like “prison.”[8] The Chinese government provided her with cash for her late-term abortion, but this will not compensate for the trauma of forced late-term abortion.

Feng’s case has become symbolic of the heinous human rights abuses suffered by the women of China at the hands of the Chinese Communist population control machine.  Feng’s forced abortion and the subsequent persecution of her family, however, have not been in vain.  Feng was specifically cited by the European Parliament in its resolution condemning coercive family planning.

Hu Jia, Jianli County, Hubei Province. June 19, 2012.  China’s Southern Metropolis Daily reported that Hu Jia was forcibly aborted at nearly eight months.  This case was reported by a major Chinese newspaper, indicating the growing discontent with the policy inside China and the courage of the Chinese news media to report it.[9]

Zhang Wen Fang, Hong Hu City, Hubei Province (2008) – Inspired by the outrage generated by the case of Feng Jianmei, Zhan Wen Fang stepped forward to report that she had been forcibly aborted at nine months in 2008.  Along with her baby, family planning officials removed her uterus, cervix and one ovary.  Previously a successful business owner, she is now confined to a wheelchair and dependant on her aging mother.  She states that her older child is “like an orphan,” without much support from her.  She came forward stating, “I would like to ensure that no more families ever have to go through what I have been through, to be butchered like this.”[10]

Pressure builds in Europe and the United States

This spate of barbaric cases has focused criticism against coercive family planning in China.

European Parliament. 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. 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.

I have twice addressed the European Parliament on the One Child Policy, and I know how passionate the MEPs are, both from the pro-life and the pro-choice perspectives.[11] The fact that these forces were able to join together to condemn forced abortion is a masterpiece of coalition building.  As WRWF’s message has been from the beginning, whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, no one supports forced abortion, because it is not a choice.

Additionally, it is significant that the European Parliament has acknowledged that it provides funding for family planning in China, and urged the Commission to ensure that this funding is not associated with coercion.  For decades, the UNFPA and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) have worked hand in hand with the Chinese population control machine, which is coercive.  They are funded by many nations, not only in Europe but the world over, including the United States.  I have no doubt that any unbiased investigation by the European Parliament or any other governmental body will reveal that these organizations are complicit with coercive family planning in China.

I hope that this courageous action by the European Parliament will serve as a model for governments all over the world, including the United States, to join the outcry against forced abortion in China — and to stop funding it.

U.S. State Department. On the domestic front, State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland, condemned forced abortion while expressing concern for the case of Cao Ruyi.  “We’ve seen the reports that a Chinese woman is being detained and possibly pressured into a forced abortion by Chinese family planning authorities after purportedly violating China’s one-child policy,” she told reporters during a press briefing in June. “We have reached out to the authorities in Beijing to ask about this issue.”  Nuland reiterated that the U.S. strongly opposes “all aspects of China’s coercive birth limitation policies,” which they have deemed a serious human rights abuse. [12]

Center for Reproductive Rights. In an encouraging development, Nancy Northup, President of the Center for Reproductive Rights, wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times, referencing the case of Feng Jianmei and condemning forced abortion in China.[13] This was a courageous act on Northup’s part.  If NARAL, Planned Parenthood, NOW and the UNFPA truly stand for choice, they will join Northup in condemning forced abortion in China.  If they do not condemn forced abortion, they do not stand for choice.

Pressure Builds Within China

In the wake of these cases, it was reported that two brave groups within China have called for the reform or relinquishment of the One Child Policy.  According to the China Economic Times, several researchers in the Developmental Research Center – a prestigious, government-affiliated think tank — cited the coming demographic disaster caused by low birth rates combined with an ageing population as the reason for China to move to a two-child policy.  “The longer we wait, the more vulnerable we will be,” they stated.[14]

While I agree that China is facing a nearly-irreversible demographic disaster caused by the One Child Policy, I do not agree that instituting a two-child policy is the answer to the problems created by the One Child Policy.  First, a two-child policy encourages gendercide, the sex-selective abortion of baby girls.  In areas where couples can have a second child if the first is a girl, gendercide is rampant.  According to a 2009 study by the British Medical Journal, the average birth ratio in China is 120 boys for every hundred girls born.  But for second births, that number jumps to 143 boys for every hundred girls.  In two provinces, Jiangsu and Anhui, for the second child, there were 190 boys for every hundred girls born.[15]

The central issue in the One Child Policy, moreover, is not whether the government allows couples to have one or two children.  Rather, it is the coercion with which this limit is enforced.  Even with a two-child policy, women will still be subject to forced abortion if they get pregnant without a birth permit.

A second call for reform came from a prominent group of scholars who criticized the policy on the basis that it violates human rights and works against economic stability. Fifteen brave intellectuals signed an open letter urging that re-writing of family planning law was “imperative.” One of their leaders, well-known Internet entrepreneur James Liang, is calling for the abolition of the one-child rule.[16]

The Chinese forced abortion policy is systematic, institutionalized violence against women. This violence against women and girls takes the following six forms:

1)    Forced abortion is traumatic to women.   It is a form of torture.

2)    Women who have violated the policy are often forcibly sterilized.  Forced sterilization is a serious human rights abuse and can lead to life-long health complications.

3)    A document leaked out of China in November, 2009 discusses methods of infanticide, including the puncturing of the skulls and injecting alcohol into the brains of full term fetuses to kill them during labor.

4)    Because of the traditional preference for boys, sex-selective abortion is common and most of the aborted fetuses are girls, a form of “gendercide.”

5)    Because of this gendercide, there are 37 million more men than women in China today.   This gender imbalance is a major force driving sexual trafficking of women and girls in Asia.

6)    China has the highest female suicide rate of any country in the world.  It is the only nation in which more women than men kill themselves – approximately 500 women a day.  I believe that this high suicide rate is likely  related to coercive family planning.

The Chinese government would like the world to believe that ethnic minorities are exempt from the One Child Policy.  This is propaganda. Rebiya Kadeer has submitted into the Congressional Record a hard-hitting report on the genocidal use of the One Child Policy against the Uyghurs.

Not only are women oppressed, but so are those who try to defend them.  Blind activist lawyer Chen Guangcheng exposed the widespread and systematic use of forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations in Linyi County in 2005.  The Chinese Communist Party imprisoned Chen for four years and three months and has kept him and his family under strict house arrest since September, 2010.  Women’s Rights Without Frontiers led the international coalition to free Chen, who arrived in the United States on May 19, 2012.

Free Chen Guangcheng!  Video

http://www.youtube.com/user/reggielittlejohn#p/a/u/1/hnqQ5v_ofgw

I have attached several reports for your reference.   To read more than a dozen expert reports documenting the facts stated in this complaint, click here. http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/index.php?nav=congressional

Concerning my background, please view my online biography here: http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/index.php?nav=reggie-littlejohn

Here is a video in which Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, condemns coercive family planning in China:

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

Here is a seminal article about our work that appeared in the Washington Post:

Kathleen Parker, Washington Post, Interview of Reggie Littlejohn, “When Abortion Isn’t a Choice” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/10/AR2009111013891.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

In addition, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers launched its website in Chinese.  This is the first ever comprehensive website dedicated to exposing the brutal truth about the One Child Policy, in Chinese. To visit the website, click here.  http://www.nvquan.org/

I hope to work with you to help end this extremely serious violation of the rights of women and girls in China.  Please let me know if you would like any more information.

Very truly yours,

Reggie Littlejohn, President

Women’s Rights Without Frontiers

www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org

[1] Kathleen Gilbert.  “Photo of a baby aborted in China at 9 months in forced abortion circulates on internet, sparks outrage.”  4/3/12

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/photo-of-baby-aborted-in-china-at-9-months-in-forced-abortion-circulates-on/

[2] Congressional-Executive Commission on China Hearing of December 6, 2011, releasing the Chen Guangcheng Report.

http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/?nav=congressional_hearing_2011

[3] Reggie Littlejohn.  “China:  46 Year Old Woman Forcibly Sterilized.”  7/23/12

China: 46-Year-Old Woman Forcibly Sterilized

[4] Jing Zhang. “China’s One Child Policy – Two Cases.”  American Spectator, 6/15/12.

http://spectator.org/archives/2012/06/15/chinas-one-child-policy-two-ca

[5] “The Brutal Truth:  A shocking case of forced abortion fuels resentment against China’s One Child Policy.”  6/23/12.  http://www.economist.com/node/21557369

[6] Reggie Littlejohh, “BREAKING:  Chinese Woman Forcibly Aborted at Seven Months.”  6/12/12

http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=667

[7] Father in China forced abortion case demands criminal prosecution, seeks compensation.  7/6/12  http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/father-in-china-forced-abortion-case-demands-criminal-prosecution-sues-for-compensation/2012/07/06/gJQAx4GLRW_story.html

[8] Josh Chin.  Mom Cites Pressure in One-Child Saga.  6/28/12 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303561504577492413851079538.html

[9] Patrick Burke.  “Another Forced Abortion Case Reported as Abuses Under China’s ‘One-Child’ Policy Get More Attention” 7/2/12

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/another-forced-abortion-case-reported-abuses-under-china-s-one-child-policy-get-more

[10] “Chinese woman comes forward with forced abortion story” 7/3/12

http://www.allgirlsallowed.org/another-woman-comes-forward-harrowing-story-forced-abortion

[11] I am told that in 2008, I was the first person to address the European Parliament on the issue of the One Child Policy.  This 2008 address comprises the chapter on the One Child Policy in the book, “Human Rights in China After the Olympic Games,” currently available on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Human-Rights-China-After-Olympics/dp/1448610567/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247847877&sr=1-1

[12] Alexandra Ludka and Gloria Riviera.  “Forced Abortion in China Prompts Apology and Three Officials Suspended.” 6/15/12

http://abcnews.go.com/International/forced-abortion-china-prompts-apology-officials-suspended/story?id=16579517#.T_e2WXAio7A

[13] Nancy Northup.  Letter to the Editor, New York Times, “Forced Abortion in China,” 7/4/12.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/opinion/forced-abortion-in-china.html

[14] Josh Chin.  “Think Tank Calls China to Adjust One-Child Policy” 7/3/12 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304211804577504360440496118.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[15] Wei Xing Zhu, Li Lu and Therese Hesketh. (2009) BMJ:  China’s excess males, sex-selective abortion and one child policy:  analysis of data from 2005 national intercensus survey.  http://www.bmj.com/content/338/bmj.b1211.abstract

[16] Josh Chin.  Another High-Profile Call to Revisit China’s One-Child Rule, 7/5/12

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/07/05/another-high-profile-call-to-revisit-chinas-one-child-rule/

Posted in abortion, cao ruyi, Center for Reproductive Rights, Chen Guangcheng, China, China's One Child Policy, coerced abortion, European Parliament, female suicide, Feng Jianmei, Forced Abortion, forced sterilization, gendercide, human dignity, Human Rights, IPPF, Josh Chin, Nancy Northup, One Child Policy, pro-choice, pro-life, Reggie Littlejohn, reproductive rights, right to choose, Uncategorized, UNFPA, women, women's rights, Women's Rights Without Frontiers | 2 Comments

China: 46-Year-Old Woman Forcibly Sterilized

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Reggie Littlejohn

HUANGQIAO TOWN, JISHUI COUNTY, JIANGXI PROVINCE.  On the eve of the U.S. – China Human Rights Dialogue, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers has learned that a 46-year-old woman was forcibly sterilized, in retaliation for bringing a petition. The woman posted the following account on the internet:

On March 14, my husband was being escorted back from making a petition.  To retaliate for his petition, the town government sent more than 20 strong men.  I could no longer give birth to a child at that time, but they still dragged my legs, treated me like an animal, and forcibly performed a tubal ligation on the operating table of the Family Planning Office.  Guoqing Luo (the Deputy Town Secretary) also exclaimed, “The Government takes the consequences!  The Government has the money!”

Women’s Rights Without Frontiers phoned the victim’s husband and learned of the tragic circumstances that led to the petition.  The couple’s second daughter fell to her death from a fourth floor window during a quarrel with her boyfriend.  Her parents took the boyfriend’s parents to court and won a judgment of 43,000 RMB ($6700), but they were never paid.  The victim’s husband petitioned to enforce the judgment.   In retaliation for this petition, that local government forcibly sterilized his wife. The local government told the victim’s husband that if he and his wife kept quiet about the forced sterilization, they would receive compensation.  The couple, however, decided to post the incident on the Internet.

Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, stated, “Forced sterilization is barbaric and is already categorized as a crime against humanity.  To forcibly sterilize a woman who is beyond childbearing to retaliate for bringing a petition is beyond barbaric.  This incident is evidence of what I have been saying for years:  China’s One Child Policy is social control masquerading as population control.  Its primary purpose is no longer to control fertility, but rather to control the Chinese people through terror.  Family planning officials function as domestic terrorists.  They extort, maim and kill with impunity, to suppress dissent of any sort.”

Littlejohn added: There is no mention of forced abortion or involuntary sterilization on the agenda of the U.S. – China Human Rights Dialogue. These practices touch every family in China and should be front and center in the Dialogues.”

Read the Internet report concerning the forcibly sterilized woman here:

http://k.t.qq.com/k/%25E7%25BB%259D%25E7%25BB%258F%25E5%2586%259C%25E5%25A6%2587%25E7%2596%2591%25E5%259B%25A0%25E4%25B8%258A%25E8%25AE%25BF%25E9%2581%25AD%25E5%25BC%25BA%25E5%2588%25B6%25E7%25BB%2593%25E6%2589%258E?pgv_ref=aio2012&ptlang=2052

Posted in China's One Child Policy, crime against humanity, Forced Abortion, forced sterilization, Human Rights, One Child Policy, pro-choice, pro-life, Reggie Littlejohn, reproductive health, reproductive rights, right to choose, Uncategorized, Women's Rights Without Frontiers | 1 Comment

Washington Times: Gruesome Picture Puts New Pressure on China Over One Child Policy

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Reggie Littlejohn

By Cheryl Wetzstein

July 9, 2012

At a House hearing punctuated by the wails of a Chinese woman mourning a baby that was forcibly aborted 17 years ago, lawmakers said there were signs that increased domestic and international pressure on Chinese officials to end the country’s one-child policy was beginning to have an effect.

The recent publication of a photo of despondent 23-year-old Jianmei Feng lying on a hospital bed with her bloody, aborted 7-month-old child beside her has “sparked global outrage,” said Rep. Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey Republican and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, global health and human rights.

With that picture, “People are finally seeing the gruesome reality of China’s one-child policy,” said Mr. Smith, who noted that Ms. Feng’s husband, Deng Jiyuan, has been beaten and is in hiding, and that Ms. Feng remains confined in a government hospital.

But Mr. Smith also noted that several prominent Chinese researchers told the China Economic Times earlier this month that the one-child policy should be adjusted “as soon as possible” to avert a demographic crisis, and 15 Chinese scholars Friday openly said the one-child policy “does not accord” with human rights and China’s need for sustainable economic development.

“It now seems that consensus in China is building towards reforming the policy,” said Rep. Joseph R. Pitts, Pennsylvania Republican.

Human rights activist Reggie Littlejohn told lawmakers there were signs of a “breakthrough” with State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland and Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, speaking out against forced abortion, citing the case of Ms. Feng.

“Forced abortion is not a choice,” said Ms. Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers.

The publication of the gruesome pictures has clearly rattled officials in Beijing. The young couple were called traitors by some in China, but the European Parliament recently cited them in a strong condemnation of China’s one-child policy and forced abortion, Mr. Smith said.

Witnesses at Monday’s hearing, including a number of longtime critics of the one-child policy, suggested a number of responses, including restricting funds for the United Nations Population Fund and urging U.S. corporations to reject coercive family-planning practices in their factories in China.

“Numerous forced-abortion tragedies occur in China every single day,” said Pastor Bob Fu, president of China Aid Association, which this year helped blind political activist Guangcheng Chen and his family escape house arrest and come to the United States.

The harsh realities of forced abortion were brought to the hearing via a telephone call from Yanling Guo, who fled China with her husband and is now in Bangkok.

In 1995, Ms. Guo said through Mr. Fu, she was eight months pregnant and staying with her sister. One morning, Ms. Guo was accosted by family-planning officials, taken to a hospital and forced onto a delivery table. A masked health care professional came in, felt for the baby’s head and “stuck a big, long, fatal needle into my abdomen,” Ms. Guo said.

Someone later pulled the baby out of her and laid it on a nearby table. “It was a baby boy. My son, my son,” Ms. Guo said, her voice dissolving into deep sobs.

The panel waited for her to regain her composure, but eventually Ms. Guo’s husband took the phone to finish her testimony. “Remove this evil family-planning system and restore human rights,” he said over his wife’s still-audible cries.

The original article can be viewed here:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/9/gruesome-picture-puts-new-pressure-on-china-over-o/

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Feng Jianmei, the European Parliament and Forced Abortion: Reggie Littlejohn’s Congressional Testimony Today

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Reggie Littlejohn

WRWF Founder and President, Reggie Littlejohn, will testify today before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights.  Joining her will be Bob Fu, President of China Aid and Steven Mosher, President of the Population Research Institute.  The hearing will take place at 2:00 in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building.  WRWF broke the story of Feng Jianmei to the West, on this blog.  http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=667 .

In addition, Ms. Littlejohn has been told that in 2008,  she was the first person to address the European Parliament on the issue of China’s One Child Policy.  Ms. Littlejohn’s testimony follows:

Thank you, Chairman Smith and Members of the Subcommittee, for the opportunity to testify today regarding the case of Feng Jianmei, as well as several other alarming cases of forced abortion that have arisen recently in China.  I am also thrilled that the European Parliament has passed a resolution strongly condemning forced abortions and sterilizations globally, and has called for a review to ensure that the funding it provides for family planning in China is not used for coercion.

The case of Feng Jianmei is one of several that have emerged in swift succession, most of these following on the heels of blind activist Chen Guangcheng’s May 19 arrival in the United States.

Linyi City, Shandong Province. March 2012.  A photo of a forcibly aborted full term baby drowned in a bucket, submitted anonymously, circulated on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, and in the West.  The infant reportedly cried at birth, but was drowned in a bucket by family planning personnel.[1] Blind activist Chen Guangcheng comes from Linyi and was still under house arrest at the time news of this forced abortion broke. This incident demonstrates that forced abortion up to the ninth month of pregnancy still occurs in Linyi, as first disclosed by Chen in his report of 2005.[2]

Cao Ruyi, Changsha City, Hunan Province. June 2012 and ongoing.  Five months pregnant, Cao Ruyi was detained by Family Planning Officials, who beat her husband and attempted to forcibly abort her.  They demanded that she pay the Chinese equivalent of approximately $24,000, or face forced abortion.  Because of international pressure, this amount was reduced and Cao was allowed to leave the hospital, but she remains in jeopardy.  Jing Zhang, President of Women’s Rights in China, has arranged for Cao Ruyi and her husband to remain in hiding until their baby is born.[3]

Feng Jianmei, Ankang City, Shaanxi Province. June 2, 2012.  Breaking within days of the case of Cao Ruyi, Feng Jianmei was forcibly aborted at seven months when she and her husband, Deng Jiyuan, could not pay a 40,000 yuan fine ($6300). Officials tried to force Feng into a car, but she escaped to her aunt’s house.  They broke through the gate, so she fled to the mountains, where officials found her hiding under a bed.  Her husband told The Economist, “They laughed when they found her.”[4] After forcibly aborting her baby, officials laid the bloody body of her dead daughter next to her in the bed.  The story and photograph, which WRWF broke to the west on June 12, 2012, immediately went viral, sent shockwaves around the world, and ignited a firestorm of outrage.[5]

In the aftermath, the local Ankang City government apologized, several officials were given administrative demerits, and one reportedly was terminated. The sincerity of these gestures, however, is questionable, given the fact that at the same time, protests were organized outside Feng’s family home.  Protesters carried a large banner reading “Beat the traitors, drive them from the town.”  According to local media reports, these protests were organized by local authorities, in retaliation for Deng’s interview with a German journalist.  At this time, Deng disappeared for several days, during which time Feng did not know where he was.[6]

Deng has since reappeared, having traveled to Beijing to seek legal help. He is calling for justice, including both monetary compensation and criminal prosecution of those responsible for forcibly aborting Feng.[7]

As of an Associated Press report, Feng was still in the hospital on July 6 – more than a month after her forced abortion.[8] Earlier, she had said that she was ready to leave the hospital and felt that remaining hospitalized weeks after the forced abortion felt like “prison.”[9]

Feng’s case has become symbolic of the heinous human rights abuses suffered by the women of China at the hands of the Chinese Communist population control machine.  Feng’s forced abortion and the subsequent persecution of her family, however, have not been in vain.  Feng was specifically cited by the European Parliament in its resolution condemning coercive family planning.

Hu Jia, Jianli County, Hubei Province. June 19, 2012.  China’s Southern Metropolis Daily reported that Hu Jia was forcibly aborted at nearly eight months.  This case was reported by a major Chinese newspaper, indicating the growing discontent with the policy inside China and the courage of the Chinese news media to report it.[10]

Zhang Wen Fang, Hong Hu City, Hubei Province (2008) – Inspired by the outrage generated by the case of Feng Jianmei, Zhan Wen Fang stepped forward to report that she had been forcibly aborted at nine months in 2008.  Along with her baby, family planning officials removed her uterus, cervix and one ovary.  Previously a successful business owner, she is now confined to a wheelchair and dependant on her aging mother.  She states that her older child is “like an orphan,” without much support from her.  She came forward stating, “I would like to ensure that no more families ever have to go through what I have been through, to be butchered like this.”[11]

Pressure builds in Europe and the United States

This spate of barbaric cases has focused criticism against coercive family planning in China.

European Parliament. In a striking blow against China’s One Child Policy, the European Parliament last week passed a resolution strongly condemning forced abortion and involuntary sterilization in China and globally, citing Feng Jianmei. 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.

I have twice addressed the European Parliament on the One Child Policy, and I know how passionate the MEPs are, both from the pro-life and the pro-choice perspectives.[12] The fact that these forces were able to join together to condemn forced abortion is a masterpiece of coalition building.  As WRWF’s message has been from the beginning, whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, no one supports forced abortion, because it is not a choice.

Additionally, it is significant that the European Parliament has acknowledged that it provides funding for family planning in China, and urged the Commission to ensure that this funding is not associated with coercion.  For decades, the UNFPA and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) have worked hand in hand with the Chinese population control machine, which is coercive.  They are funded by many nations, not only in Europe but the world over, including the United States.  I have no doubt that any unbiased investigation by the European Parliament or any other governmental body will reveal that these organizations are complicit with coercive family planning in China.

I hope that this courageous action by the European Parliament will serve as a model for governments all over the world, including the United States, to join the outcry against forced abortion in China — and to stop funding it.

U.S. State Department. On the domestic front, State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland, condemned forced abortion while expressing concern for the case of Cao Ruyi.  “We’ve seen the reports that a Chinese woman is being detained and possibly pressured into a forced abortion by Chinese family planning authorities after purportedly violating China’s one-child policy,” she told reporters during a press briefing. “We have reached out to the authorities in Beijing to ask about this issue.”  Nuland reiterated that the U.S. strongly opposes “all aspects of China’s coercive birth limitation policies,” which they have deemed a serious human rights abuse. [13]

Center for Reproductive Rights. In an encouraging development, Nancy Northup, President of the Center for Reproductive Rights, wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times, referencing the case of Feng Jianmei and condemning forced abortion in China.[14] This was a courageous act on Northup’s part.  If NARAL, Planned Parent, NOW and the UNFPA truly stand for choice, they will join Northup in condemning forced abortion in China.  If they do not condemn forced abortion, they do not stand for choice.

WRWF urges both the State Department and the Center for Reproductive Rights to back up their words with effective actions. [15]

Pressure Builds Within China

In the wake of these cases, it was reported last week that two brave groups within China have called for the reform or relinquishment of the One Child Policy.  According to the China Economic Times, several researchers in the Developmental Research Center – a prestigious, government-affiliated think tank — cited the coming demographic disaster caused by low birth rates combined with an ageing population as the reason for China to move to a two-child policy.  “The longer we wait, the more vulnerable we will be,” they stated.[16]

While I agree that China is facing a nearly-irreversible demographic disaster caused by the One Child Policy, I do not agree that instituting a two-child policy is the answer to the problems created by the One Child Policy.  First, a two-child policy encourages gendercide, the sex-selective abortion of baby girls.  In areas where couples can have a second child if the first is a girl, gendercide is rampant.  According to a 2009 study by the British Medical Journal, the average birth ratio in China is 120 boys for every hundred girls born.  But for second births, that number jumps to 143 boys for every hundred girls.  In two provinces, Jiangsu and Anhui, for the second child, there were 190 boys for every hundred girls born.[17]

The central issue in the One Child Policy, moreover, is not whether the government allows couples to have one or two children.  Rather, it is the coercion with which this limit is enforced.  Even with a two-child policy, women will still be subject to forced abortion if they get pregnant without a birth permit.

Last week a second call for reform came from a prominent group of scholars who criticized the policy on the basis that it violates human rights and works against economic stability. Fifteen brave intellectuals signed an open letter urging that re-writing of family planning law was “imperative.” One of their leaders, well-known Internet entrepreneur James Liang, is calling for the abolition of the one-child rule.[18]

Policy Recommendations

Members of the U.S. Congress are encouraged to:

  • Adopt a resolution condemning forced abortion and sterilization in China and urging the Chinese Communist Party to dismantle the coercive population control machine, in light of recent cases, bringing family planning in conformance with the 1995 Beijing Declaration, the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, and CEDAW.
  • Urge the Chinese Communist Party vigorously to investigate and criminally prosecute Family Planning Officials and others responsible for the forced abortions of Feng Jianmei, Hu Jia and Zhang Wen Fang.  Give Cao Ruyi permission to have her second child.  Return all fines paid by these women and compensate them and their families for their injuries.
  • Urge the Chinese Communist Party to cease the use of all quotas for abortion and sterilization, which quota system leads to coercion.  Urge the Chinese Communist Party to delink financial and professional advancement from meeting population control quotas, thus removing the incentive for coercion.
  • Investigate UNFPA and IPPF for complicity with coercive family planning in China.  If complicity is found, funding should be cut.
  • Pass an act concerning the responsibility of U.S. corporations doing business in China, that they should not be complicit in coercive family planning in their factories.
  • Press for the freedom of blind activist Chen Guangcheng’s nephew, Chen Kegui, who has been wrongfully detained on charges of attempted murder.  Chen Kegui and his family were violently attacked by local authorities when it was discovered that his uncle had escaped.  Chen Kegui acted in self defense.
  • Pass a “China Democracy Promotion Act,” which would enable the President to deny entry into the U.S. for Chinese nationals who have committed human rights abuses against people in China, including anyone who has participated in the imposition of China’s coercive birth limitation policy.  This Act would be similar to H.R. 2121, proposed in 2011 by Rep. Chris Smith.
[1] Kathleen Gilbert.  “Photo of a baby aborted in China at 9 months in forced abortion circulates on internet, sparks outrage.”  4/3/12

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/photo-of-baby-aborted-in-china-at-9-months-in-forced-abortion-circulates-on/

[2] Congressional-Executive Commission on China Hearing of December 6, 2011, releasing the Chen Guangcheng Report.

http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/?nav=congressional_hearing_2011

[3] Jing Zhang. “China’s One Child Policy – Two Cases.”  American Spectator, 6/15/12.

http://spectator.org/archives/2012/06/15/chinas-one-child-policy-two-ca

[4] “The Brutal Truth:  A shocking case of forced abortion fuels resentment against China’s One Child Policy.”  6/23/12.  http://www.economist.com/node/21557369

[5] Reggie Littlejohh, “BREAKING:  Chinese Woman Forcibly Aborted at Seven Months.”  6/12/12

http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=667

[6] “China punishes officials over late-term abortion case.”  6/27/12.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18605767

Josh Chin.  “Mom Cites Pressure in One-Child Saga.”  6/28/12 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303561504577492413851079538.html

[7] Father in China forced abortion case demands criminal prosecution, seeks compensation.  7/6/12  http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/father-in-china-forced-abortion-case-demands-criminal-prosecution-sues-for-compensation/2012/07/06/gJQAx4GLRW_story.html

[8] Father in China forced abortion case demands criminal prosecution, seeks compensation.  7/6/12  http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/father-in-china-forced-abortion-case-demands-criminal-prosecution-sues-for-compensation/2012/07/06/gJQAx4GLRW_story.html

[9] Josh Chin.  Mom Cites Pressure in One-Child Saga.  6/28/12 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303561504577492413851079538.html

[10] Patrick Burke.  “Another Forced Abortion Case Reported as Abuses Under China’s ‘One-Child’ Policy Get More Attention” 7/2/12

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/another-forced-abortion-case-reported-abuses-under-china-s-one-child-policy-get-more

[11] “Chinese woman comes forward with forced abortion story” 7/3/12

http://www.allgirlsallowed.org/another-woman-comes-forward-harrowing-story-forced-abortion

[12] I am told that in 2008, I was the first person to address the European Parliament on the issue of the One Child Policy.  This 2008 address comprises the chapter on the One Child Policy in the book, “Human Rights in China After the Olympic Games,” currently available on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Human-Rights-China-After-Olympics/dp/1448610567/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247847877&sr=1-1

[13] Alexandra Ludka and Gloria Riviera.  “Forced Abortion in China Prompts Apology and Three Officials Suspended.” 6/15/12

http://abcnews.go.com/International/forced-abortion-china-prompts-apology-officials-suspended/story?id=16579517#.T_e2WXAio7A

[14] Nancy Northup.  Letter to the Editor, New York Times, “Forced Abortion in China,” 7/4/12.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/opinion/forced-abortion-in-china.html

[15] Concerning backing up words with actions, it is appropriate here to mention ardent pro-choice feminist, Cori Schumacher, the 2011 reigning Women’s World Longboard Surfing Champion.  Schumacher boycotted the 2011 World Tour because one of the events was to be held in China. Citing Women’s Rights Without Frontiers and the November 10, 2009 hearing before the United States Congress Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (called by Rep. Chris Smith), Schumacher wrote the following to the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP):

“I have deep political and personal reservations with being a part of any sort of benefit to a country that actively engages in human rights violations, specifically those in violation of women. The ASP’s reconnaissance of possible sites in China for events last year and its first ASP event in China followed an important US congressional hearing on China’s “One Child Policy,” a policy sanctioned by the Chinese government that is implicated in gendercide, sexual slavery, forced sterilization and forced abortions. (http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/index.php?nav=congressional)”

Cori Schumacher, “Women’s Rights Without Frontiers; Standing her Ground,” Curl Magazine, 12/17/11  http://corischumacher.com/tag/womens-rights-without-frontiers/

[16] Josh Chin.  “Think Tank Calls China to Adjust One-Child Policy” 7/3/12 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304211804577504360440496118.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[17] Wei Xing Zhu, Li Lu and Therese Hesketh. (2009) BMJ:  China’s excess males, sex-selective abortion and one child policy:  analysis of data from 2005 national intercensus survey.  http://www.bmj.com/content/338/bmj.b1211.abstract

[18] Josh Chin.  Another High-Profile Call to Revisit China’s One-Child Rule, 7/5/12

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/07/05/another-high-profile-call-to-revisit-chinas-one-child-rule/

Posted in Association of Surfing Professionals, cao ruyi, Center for Reproductive Rights, Chen Guangcheng, Chen Kegui, China's One Child Policy, Chris Smith, coerced abortion, Cori Schumacher, European Parliament, Feng Jianmei, International Planned Parenthood Federation, IPPF, Jing Zhang, Josh Chin, Nancy Northup, pro-choice, pro-life, Reggie Littlejohn, reproductive health, reproductive rights, right to choose, Uncategorized, UNFPA, Women's Rights in China, Women's Rights Without Frontiers, Zhang Wen Feng | Comments Off on Feng Jianmei, the European Parliament and Forced Abortion: Reggie Littlejohn’s Congressional Testimony Today

BREAKING — European Parliament Resolution Strongly Condemns Forced Abortion in China, citing Feng Jianmei

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Reggie Littlejohn

The European Parliament has just adopted a resolution strongly condemning forced abortions and sterilizations under China’s One Child Policy, including the forced abortion at seven months of Feng Jianmei, which occurred last month in Shaanxi Province, China.

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.

Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, welcomed this decision with high praise. “I have twice addressed the European Parliament on the One Child Policy, and I know how passionate the MEPs are, both from the pro-life and the pro-choice perspectives.  The fact that these forces were able to join together to condemn forced abortion is a masterpiece of coalition building.  As my message has been from the beginning, whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, no one supports forced abortion, because it is not a choice.”

Littlejohn also lauded the European Parliament’s acknowledgement that it provides funding for family planning in China, and its decision to investigate whether this funding might be associated with coercion.  Littlejohn stated, “The UNFPA and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) work hand in hand with the Chinese population control machine, which is coercive.  They are funded by many nations, not only in Europe but the world over, including the United States.  I have no doubt that any investigation by the European Parliament or others will reveal that these organizations are complicit with coercive family planning in China.”

Littlejohn added, “I hope that this courageous action by the European Parliament will serve as a model for governments all over the world to join the outcry against forced abortion in China — and to stop funding it.”

Women’s Rights Without Frontiers broke the story of Feng Jianmei to the west.  (Warning, graphic image.)  http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=667

Littlejohn’s first address to the European Parliament comprises the chapter on the One Child Policy in the book, “Human Rights in China After the Olympic Games,” currently available on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Human-Rights-China-After-Olympics/dp/1448610567/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247847877&sr=1-1

Watch a 4-minute video exposing the truth about forced abortion in China:

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

Sign a petition to stop forced abortion:

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

Posted in abortion, Brussels, coerced abortion, European Parliament, Feng Jianmei, Forced Abortion, International Planned Parenthood Federation, IPPF, UNFPA | Comments Off on BREAKING — European Parliament Resolution Strongly Condemns Forced Abortion in China, citing Feng Jianmei

Reggie Littlejohn to Speak at the Victims of Communism Memorial Commemoration in DC Today

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Reggie Littlejohn


http://victimsofcommunism.org/media/article.php?article=7743
Victims of Communism Memorial, June 12, 2012
Remarks by Reggie Littlejohn, President
Women’s Rights Without Frontiers

Dr. Edwards and honored guests, I am greatly humbled by being asked to speak on this somber anniversary commemorating five years of the Victims of Communism Memorial.  It is fitting that the Memorial statue itself is a replica of the Goddess of Democracy erected by the students on Tianamen Square – a beacon of hope for those students before they were then so brutally slaughtered by their own government.

Indeed, this is the hallmark of Communistic governments:  the peacetime mass killings of their own citizens.   It is estimated that the former Soviet Union under Stalin committed 20 million such killings, and that the Chinese Communist Party under Mao Tse-tung committed 65 million:  together, 85 million.  This number of murders of innocent civilians by their own governments boggles the mind.

And yet even this number is dwarfed by another, hidden category of victims of communism – victims of China’s One Child Policy.

Women’s Rights Without Frontiers has learned that a woman in Shanxi Province, China, was forcibly aborted at seven months of pregnancy on June 3, 2012 – just last week.

Feng Jianmei was beaten and dragged into a vehicle by a group of Family Planning Officials while her husband, Deng Jiyuan, was out working.  The officials asked for RMB 40,000 in fines from Feng Jianmei’s family.  When they did not receive the money, they forcibly aborted Feng at seven months, laying the body of her aborted baby next to her in the bed.

Feng Jianmei is not alone.  The Chinese Communist Party estimates that it has “prevented” 400 million lives through its brutal One Child Policy.  Every one of these 400 million snuffed out lives is a victim of communism.

Affecting 1.3 billion people, the coercive enforcement of China’s One Child Policy causes more violence against women and girls than any other official policy on earth and any other official policy in the history of the world.

  1. Forced abortion is traumatic to women.   This can happen up to the ninth month of pregnancy.  Some forced abortions are so violent that the women themselves die, along with their full term babies.  Forced abortion is official government rape.
  1. Women who have violated the policy are often victims of forced sterilization, which can lead to life-long health complications.  These forced abortions and forced sterilizations are often performed without anesthesia.
  2. A document leaked out of China in November 2009 discusses methods of infanticide, including the puncturing of the skulls and injecting alcohol into the brains of full term babies, usually girls, to kill them during labor.
  3. Because of the traditional preference for boys, sex-selective abortion of girls is common — a form of “gendercide.”
  4. Because of this gendercide, there are an estimated 37 million more men than women in China today.   This gender imbalance is a major force driving sexual slavery of women and girls in Asia.
  5. China has the highest female suicide rate of any country in the world – approximately 500 women a day.  I believe this high suicide rate is related to forced abortion.

The One Child Policy is causing a slow-motion demographic disaster.  Not only does the nation now suffer from a destabilizing gender imbalance, but also, there are not enough young people to sustain China’s rapidly ageing population.  Why, then, does China continue this policy?

I believe that China’s One Child Policy is keeping the regime in place.  It is social control, masquerading as population control.  The Chinese Communist Party wields forced abortion as an instrument of terror to keep its people down.  The infrastructure of population control coercion can be turned in any direction, to crush dissent. The use of a system of paid informants to identify illegally pregnant women tears at relationships of trust.  If you cannot trust anyone, you cannot organize for democracy.

The true spirit of Communism is most clearly seen in the faces of the Chinese population control police as they drag women away, beat them, strap them down to tables, and force them to abort babies that they want, up to the ninth month of pregnancy.  Whether China will turn and become a free, democratic nation, or whether China will continue down the path of totalitarian destruction, is the greatest issue of the twenty-first century and has vast implications for our own national security.  Supporting democracy in China should be among the highest priorities of the leaders of the free world.

Posted in One Child Policy, Uncategorized, Victims of Communism | 2 Comments

BREAKING: (Warning, graphic image) Chinese Woman Forcibly Aborted at Seven Months

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Reggie Littlejohn

Feng Jianmei with her forcibly aborted baby.  (Credit:  64 Tianwang)

Shanxi Province, China.  Women’s Rights Without Frontiers has learned that a woman was forcibly aborted at seven months of pregnancy on June 3, 2012.

According to a report by the China-based human rights organization 64Tianwang, the woman, Feng Jianmei, was beaten and dragged into a vehicle by a group of Family Planning Officials while her husband, Deng Jiyuan, was out working.  The officials asked for RMB 40,000 in fines from Feng Jianmei’s family.  When they did not receive the money, they forcibly aborted Feng at seven months, laying the body of her aborted baby next to her in the bed.  Feng is under medical treatment in Ankang City, Zhenpin County, Zengjia Town, Yupin village.

Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, stated, “This is an outrage.  No legitimate government would commit or tolerate such an act.  Those who are responsible should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity.  WRWF calls on the United States government and the leaders of the free world to strongly condemn forced abortion and all coercive family planning in China.”

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

Watch a video about forced abortion here:
http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/?nav=stop-forced-abortion

Read the original report about Feng Jianmei here:
http://www.64tianwang.com/bencandy.php?fid-7-id-10243-page-1.htm

Posted in abortion, China's One Child Policy, coerced abortion, Forced Abortion, One Child Policy, pro-choice, pro-life, Reggie Littlejohn | 8 Comments