Forced abortion of Feng Jianmei

On June 2, 2012, Feng Jianmei (Chinese: 冯建梅; pinyin: Féng Jiànméi) was forced to have an abortion in Zhenping County, Shaanxi, China, when she was seven months pregnant with her second child.

On June 26, the investigation determined that Feng was not legally entitled to a second child, but that her rights had nonetheless been violated by the local family planning bureau, and as a result, two officials were fired and five others punished.

Feng's husband, Deng Jiyuan (Chinese: 邓吉元; pinyin: Dèng Jíyuán), hired a lawyer to pursue criminal charges, but ultimately the family decided to settle out of court.

[citation needed] Nevertheless, human rights groups and critics of the one-child policy say that these laws are inconsistently enforced, and the local officials in many areas still carry out forced sterilizations and/or coerced abortions, sometimes in the third trimester after the fetus has reached viability.

[2] In 2005, Chen filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of women forced into sterilization or abortions and subsequently spent seven years in jail or under house arrest before emigrating to the United States in 2012.

[5] After listening to the advice of relatives, Feng and her husband, Deng Jiyuan, had believed they would be allowed to have a second child since they had waited five years between children and lived in a rural area.

[6] According to Zhenping County officials, authorities had contacted Feng in March 2012 and told her that she needed to obtain documentation, including a new household registration (referred to as hukou), in order to file an application to have the child.

[8] On June 11, a picture of Feng lying in a hospital bed "staring at the ceiling with dull eyes" next to the bloody corpse was posted on Chinese social media website Sina Weibo, along with an image of a threatening text message sent by authorities.

[13][18] Liang Jianzhang, chief executive of Ctrip, called Feng's case "outrageous and violent" and "not unique to Shaanxi",[9] saying that "abolition of the absurd family-planning policy is the only way to root out this kind of evil".

[22] On his personal Weibo account, chief editor of the Chinese Communist Party tabloid Global Times Hu Xijin wrote, "I strongly oppose the barbarous forced abortion", saying the country's family planning enforcement needed to change.

[citation needed] "Feng agreed to go through an operation to end the pregnancy on June 2 following repeated mediation by the township officials", read the county's website.

[22] It was soon revealed that the Zeng Jia Township had failed to reach its enforcement quotas under the one-child policy for the past two years, so it had received a "yellow card" warning.

[7] Two days later, the commission concluded that Feng had indeed been forced into an illegal abortion,[11] writing, "Such practice has seriously violated the relevant policies ... harmed the image of our family planning work, and caused extremely poor effects in society.

"Since the illegal actions by some officials have seriously hurt Feng Jianmei and her family, we want to offer our deep apologies to them and to the generic public", read the statement.

"[15][29] In response to the lawsuit threats, local officials cancelled a planned meeting to discuss the living stipend, saying they would wait for Jiyuan's return to Zeng Jia Township.

[citation needed] However, The Wall Street Journal said a legal remedy was unlikely, noting that a 2008 decision by the Supreme People's Court indicated that litigation could not be based on specific provisions of the constitution.

[41] Commission director Wang Xia said the inspection was of great importance, remarking that "even slight carelessness in law enforcement [damages] the image of the Party and the country.

"[citation needed] Xia said the review would aim to "strengthen the day-to-day management of services, avoid the use of violence and prevent abuses of administrative enforcement"; he placed a special emphasis on the "social maintenance fees" collected from policy violators.

[citation needed] On July 3, 2012, an open letter by three members of the Development Research Center of the State Council, a think tank that advises the Chinese ruling cabinet, was published in the group's newspaper, China Economic Times.

[44] On July 5, a group of fifteen scholars released an own open letter to the National People's Congress arguing that change to family planning law was "imperative".

"Feng Jianmei's story demonstrates how the One-Child Policy continues to sanction violence against women every day", said Chai Ling of the NGO All Girls Allowed.

"[10] In a press release, the Christian Alliance Defense Fund called Feng's case "nothing less than a crime against humanity" and asked American political leaders to formally condemn the act.

[48] A few days later, MEP Lojze Peterle opined that Chinese family planning law violates provisions outlined by the United Nations in the International Conference on Population and Development.

[50] On July 9, the Human Rights Subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives convened a hearing on the one-child policy prompted by Feng's story.

In his opening remarks, chairman Chris Smith called the one-child policy "a nightmarish 'brave new world' ... where women are psychologically wounded, girls fall victim to sex-selective abortion ... and most children grow up without brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles or cousins".

"[52] Committee witnesses called for a number of responses such as restricting United Nations Population Fund outlays and encouraging U.S. corporations doing business in China to reject the country's family-planning practices at their facilities.

"[54] A June 22 editorial in The Australian argued against the one-child policy, stating that Feng's case "one small example of the terrible costs of China's longstanding population control regime".

[55] A June 25 editorial in the Herald Sun, which examined family planning in general, said that Feng "personifies the end game of forced population limits".

[57] The International Herald Tribune immediately picked up the story, stating, "The gruesome abortion incident was cast this weekend against China's successful launching of its first female astronaut.

[9] Journalist Fareed Zakaria suggested there were signs that the Chinese government was softening its rules, noting the large number of prominent citizens who spoke out against Feng's abortion.