China apologizes, suspends officials in forced abortion case

AP Graphics

Updated at 2:09 a.m. Eastern

(AP) BEIJING - China suspended three officials and apologized to a woman who was forced to undergo an abortion seven months into her pregnancy in a case that sparked a public uproar after graphic photos of the mother and her dead baby were circulated online.

The case has renewed criticism of China's widely hated one-child limit, which, while designed to control the country's exploding population, has led to often violently imposed forced abortions and sterilizations as local authorities pursue birth quotas set by Beijing.

Feng Jianmei, 27, was beaten by officials and forced to abort the baby at seven months on June 2 because her family could not afford a 40,000 yuan ($6,300) fine for having a second child, Chinese media reported this week.

Photos of her and the reportedly stillborn baby lying on a hospital bed were posted online and went viral, triggering a public outpouring of sympathy and outrage.

The government of Ankang city, where Feng lives in northwest China's Shaanxi province, said a deputy mayor visited Feng and her husband in the hospital, apologized to them and said officials would be suspended amid an investigation.

"Today, I am here on behalf of the municipal government to see you and express our sincere apology to you. I hope to get your understanding," Deputy Mayor Du Shouping said, according to a statement on the city government's website Friday.

The official Xinhua News Agency says three officials would be relieved of their duties: two top local family planning officials and the head of the township government.

Xinhua said Feng was not legally entitled to a second child under China's one-child limit, but added that late-term abortions are prohibited due to the risk of causing physical injury to the mother.

"The correct way to deal with the case would have been for local officials to allow her to deliver the baby first, and then mete out punishment according to regulations," the agency quoted an anonymous provincial family planning official as saying.

Abuses by family planning officials are often a target for popular frustration, especially amid a growing sense among better-off Chinese that the government has no right to dictate how many children people should have.

One reason that activist Chen Guangcheng enjoys a wider appeal within China than many other activists is that he and his wife documented complaints about forced abortions and sterilizations in the city that oversees his village. Among the cases were several women who said they were forced to have abortions within days of their due dates.

Chen Guangcheng's family face ongoing harassment

The couple's efforts angered local leaders. Chen was jailed and later placed under illegal house arrest, from which he fled six weeks ago in a daring escape. He is now living in New York with his wife and two young children.

The government says the one-child policy has prevented an additional 400 million births in the world's most populous country of 1.3 billion.

Critics of the controls point out that it leads to a dangerously imbalanced sex ratio. Families abort girls out of a traditional preference for male heirs.

[JLynn0608]

Ok. I'm not getting into the politics aspect of it or how it happened, cause I'm not in China. I just wish that if the "no second child law" had to remain, that they would let the mother carry to term and put the child up for adoption! There are so many women that can't have children in the US! Atleast if you're going to take the child away, let someone else love it and give it life. GOD will deal with these killers.

[newsight]

There is a reason China is on the human rights violators list. Military dictatorship are all brutal, they don't care about people except those in charge. China is at this moment killing off people, taking their property, throwing people in hard labor prison just for being christian. They have been killing off babies for years both already born and preborn. The women who go through this, one can only imagine the emotional ravaging, what a nightmare. Estimates of 500 women per day commit suicide over these forced abortions in china. Yet The Chinese people are kept in check by poverty and fear of their govt. The chinese officials will look the other way for a bribe but extortion is also very common this poor couple could not afford the extortion price. They say communism is a better way but, they have only empowered the cruel and corrupt. They still have not figured out how to make people in power better. Only God can do that and they are still trying to throw Him out.

[KarlStalin]

Here's the way it works:....First, they ripped this little baby girl out of her mothers womb piece by piece. Rip out an arm then a little leg as the baby eventually bleeds out and dies from the dismemberment.
Then the abortionist will crush her skull. As the brain matter leaks out it makes removal of what's left of the dead baby easier to extract. Next, throw all of the remains into a bio bag and dispose of it as the nurse shouts out "Next"...Hey Pres. Obama, Great Healthcare Policy!!.... --WAKE UP AMERICA--- -VOTE CONSERVATIVE 2012---

[jtdev1]

Sounds like you've had first hand experience at this...

You're very detailed, so you must know about this first hand.

[RCC11]

You are just trying to start something up, stirring the pot to get people enraged based on your lies and BS.

The pictures at other sites show a complete non-dismembered baby. You take something tragic and try to make it worse. The really bad part is there is no good reason for you to do this.

Stick with the truth not something that you made up or found on the Web by an Anti-Abortion Group. Remember not everything on the Web or in the newspaper is true or the whole story. If it's only stated by one source chances are it's not completely true.

You should be ashamed of yourself!!!!!

[smirk5]

I bet Republican businessmen like Romney are so upset by this that they'll outsource even more jobs to China.

[OldTowner]

It's economy, idiot. Nobody wants to outsource jobs to China IF they can make it cheaper here. With all those special interests, unions, welfare...., HOW CAN YOU COMPETE with captalist China? Democrats have much more to do with it.