CHINA - An Example of Complete Government Control

Congressional Committee OKs Olympics Resolution on China's Forced Abortions July 24, 2008 by Steven Ertelt  LifeNews.com Editor

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A Congressional committee has approved a resolution calling on China to end its policy of forcing women who violate its one-child family planning program to have abortions. The resolution comes just two weeks before the Asian nation kicks off the Summer Olympics.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee has unanimously approved legislation calling on the Chinese government to immediately “end abuses of human rights of its citizens." The resolution asks the Chinese government to ensure the Olympic games take place “in an atmosphere that honors the Olympic traditions of freedom and openness.”

Rep. Chris Smith, who has led pro-life efforts in Congress for decades, urged his colleagues to back the measure and sponsored amendments to it.

One change calls on the Chinese government to abandon its coercive population control policy that includes forced abortion. “China¹s coercive population control program has imposed unspeakable violence, pain and humiliation on hundreds of millions of Chinese women, many of whom suffer lifelong depression as a consequence,” Smith reported.

"Massively violated by the state, it is no wonder more women commit suicide in China than anywhere else in the world,” he added.

Smith has held more than 25 hearings on human rights abuses in China as chairman. The House human rights committee is one of the leading experts on human rights abuses around the globe. “As a direct result of the government¹s one child policy, tens of millions of girls are missing today -- dead due to sex-selection abortions -- creating a huge gender disparity," he said.

"With its heavy reliance on forced abortion, involuntary sterilization and ruinous fines for illegal children, the policy, in effect since 1979, constitutes one of the greatest continuous crimes against humanity in human history,” Smith added.

Smith said that, with the Olympics coming up, the nation and the world needs to understand that China's human rights record -- especially as it concerns abortion -- is deplorable.

Chinese Officials to Relax One-Child Forced Abortion Policy for Quake Victims May 27, 2008 by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor

Beijing, China (LifeNews.com) -- After an international outrage that thousands of Chinese parents lost their only children in the massive earthquake that recently hit China, officials in the Asian nation say they will make an exception. Parents of children killed in the disaster will be eligible to have another child.

The quake hit near school classrooms where more than 7,000 children were located at the time of the strike. (Sadly the structure was poorly made and many women are now too old to have another child. editor)

The Chengdu Population and Family Planning Committee located in the capital city of the mountain province most affected by the quake recently made the determination. AP reported that a family planning official by the name of Wang confirmed the decision. "There are just a lot of cases now, so we need to clarify our policies," he said.

Officials also indicated that parents of children born in violation of the one-child policy will no longer have to pay fines for their birth, although the payment of past penalties will not be refunded. The family planning office is also allowing parents of illegally-born children to register them as legally born if they lost a legally-born child in the earthquake. AP says the move is important because these children will now be able to attend school and receive other benefits.

In March, some mainstream media outlets wrongly reported the nation had scrapped its policy only to see the Beijing News report that the National Population and Family Planning Commission's publicity and education department told it that the original news reports were erroneous. "China will continue to pursue even better its population and family planning policy," the report said.

However, Chinese officials acknowledged in April that they are not only planning to continue the one-child family planning policy that has resulted in forced abortions and sterilizations but continuing abuses under it. The latest reports indicate Chinese women who become pregnant a second time continue to face human rights abuses from family planning officials.

Radio Free Asia says it has learned of the case of a woman in Zhubao township in the eastern province of Shandong who was detained and beaten to force her pregnant sister to come out of hiding. “After they took her away they were asking her questions about our other sister [the pregnant woman],” a younger sister told the news service.