{"id":691,"date":"2012-07-09T05:39:33","date_gmt":"2012-07-09T05:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/?p=691"},"modified":"2012-07-09T05:39:33","modified_gmt":"2012-07-09T05:39:33","slug":"feng-jianmei-the-european-parliament-and-forced-abortion-reggie-littlejohns-congressional-testimony-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/feng-jianmei-the-european-parliament-and-forced-abortion-reggie-littlejohns-congressional-testimony-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Feng Jianmei, the European Parliament and Forced Abortion: Reggie Littlejohn’s Congressional Testimony Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

WRWF Founder and President, Reggie Littlejohn, will testify today before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights.\u00a0 Joining her will be Bob Fu, President of China Aid and Steven Mosher, President of the Population Research Institute.\u00a0 The hearing will take place at 2:00 in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building.\u00a0 WRWF broke the story of Feng Jianmei to the West, on this blog.\u00a0 http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/?p=667 <\/a> .<\/p>\n

In addition, Ms. Littlejohn has been told that in 2008,\u00a0 she was the first person to address the European Parliament on the issue of China’s One Child Policy.\u00a0 Ms. Littlejohn’s testimony follows:<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s May 19 arrival in the United States.<\/p>\n

Linyi City, Shandong Province.<\/strong> March 2012.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The infant reportedly cried at birth, but was drowned in a bucket by family planning personnel.[1]<\/a> 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]<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cao Ruyi, Changsha City, Hunan Province.<\/strong> June 2012 and ongoing.\u00a0 Five months pregnant, Cao Ruyi was detained by Family Planning Officials, who beat her husband and attempted to forcibly abort her.\u00a0 They demanded that she pay the Chinese equivalent of approximately $24,000, or face forced abortion.\u00a0 Because of international pressure, this amount was reduced and Cao was allowed to leave the hospital, but she remains in jeopardy.\u00a0 Jing Zhang, President of Women\u2019s Rights in China, has arranged for Cao Ruyi and her husband to remain in hiding until their baby is born.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Feng Jianmei, Ankang City, Shaanxi Province.<\/strong> June 2, 2012.\u00a0 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\u2019s house.\u00a0 They broke through the gate, so she fled to the mountains, where officials found her hiding under a bed. \u00a0Her husband told The Economist, \u201cThey laughed when they found her.\u201d[4]<\/a> After forcibly aborting her baby, officials laid the bloody body of her dead daughter next to her in the bed.\u00a0 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]<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2019s family home.\u00a0 Protesters carried a large banner reading \u201cBeat the traitors, drive them from the town.\u201d\u00a0 According to local media reports, these protests were organized by local authorities, in retaliation for Deng\u2019s interview with a German journalist.\u00a0 At this time, Deng disappeared for several days, during which time Feng did not know where he was.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

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]<\/a><\/p>\n

As of an Associated Press report, Feng was still in the hospital on July 6 \u2013 more than a month after her forced abortion.[8]<\/a> Earlier, she had said that she was ready to leave the hospital and felt that remaining hospitalized weeks after the forced abortion felt like \u201cprison.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

Feng\u2019s 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.\u00a0 Feng\u2019s forced abortion and the subsequent persecution of her family, however, have not been in vain.\u00a0 Feng was specifically cited by the European Parliament in its resolution condemning coercive family planning.<\/p>\n

Hu Jia, Jianli County, Hubei Province. <\/strong>June 19, 2012.\u00a0 China\u2019s Southern Metropolis Daily reported that Hu Jia was forcibly aborted at nearly eight months.\u00a0 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]<\/a><\/p>\n

Zhang Wen Fang, Hong Hu City, Hubei Province<\/strong> (2008) \u2013 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.\u00a0 Along with her baby, family planning officials removed her uterus, cervix and one ovary.\u00a0 Previously a successful business owner, she is now confined to a wheelchair and dependant on her aging mother.\u00a0 She states that her older child is \u201clike an orphan,\u201d without much support from her.\u00a0 She came forward stating, \u201cI would like to ensure that no more families ever have to go through what I have been through, to be butchered like this.\u201d[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

Pressure builds in Europe and the United States<\/strong><\/p>\n

This spate of barbaric cases has focused criticism against coercive family planning in China.<\/p>\n

European Parliament.<\/strong> In a striking blow against China\u2019s 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)\u00a0 \u201cstrongly 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.\u201d\u00a0 The resolution further states that \u201cthe EU has provided, and still provides, funds for organizations involved in family planning policies in China,\u201d and \u201curges the Commission to ensure that its funding of projects does not breach\u201d the European Parliament\u2019s commitment against coercive population control.<\/p>\n

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]<\/a> The fact that these forces were able to join together to condemn forced abortion is a masterpiece of coalition building.\u00a0 As WRWF\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 For decades, the UNFPA and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) have worked hand in hand with the Chinese population control machine, which is coercive.\u00a0 They are funded by many nations, not only in Europe but the world over, including the United States.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

U.S. State Department.<\/strong> On the domestic front, State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland, condemned forced abortion while expressing concern for the case of Cao Ruyi.\u00a0 “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.”\u00a0 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]<\/a><\/p>\n

Center for Reproductive Rights.<\/strong> 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]<\/a> This was a courageous act on Northup\u2019s part.\u00a0 If NARAL, Planned Parent, NOW and the UNFPA truly stand for choice, they will join Northup in condemning forced abortion in China.\u00a0 If they do not condemn forced abortion, they do not stand for choice.<\/p>\n

WRWF urges both the State Department and the Center for Reproductive Rights to back up their words with effective actions. [15]<\/a><\/p>\n

Pressure Builds Within China<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 According to the China Economic Times, several researchers in the Developmental Research Center \u2013 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.\u00a0 \u201cThe longer we wait, the more vulnerable we will be,\u201d they stated.[16]<\/a><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 First, a two-child policy encourages gendercide, the sex-selective abortion of baby girls.\u00a0 In areas where couples can have a second child if the first is a girl, gendercide is rampant.\u00a0 According to a 2009 study by the British Medical Journal, the average birth ratio in China is 120 boys for every hundred girls born.\u00a0 But for second births, that number jumps to 143 boys for every hundred girls.\u00a0 In two provinces, Jiangsu and Anhui, for the second child, there were 190 boys for every hundred girls born.[17]<\/a><\/p>\n

The central issue in the One Child Policy, moreover, is not whether the government allows couples to have one or two children.\u00a0 Rather, it is the coercion with which this limit is enforced.\u00a0 Even with a two-child policy, women will still be subject to forced abortion if they get pregnant without a birth permit.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cimperative.\u201d One of their leaders, well-known Internet entrepreneur James Liang, is calling for the abolition of the one-child rule.[18]<\/a><\/p>\n

Policy Recommendations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Members of the U.S. Congress are encouraged to:<\/p>\n