Local officials from Shaanxi Province detained a woman for three days before forcing her to terminate her pregnancy for violating China’s controversial one child policy. When Feng Jianmei became pregnant with her second child local authorities fined her over $6,000. She was unable to pay, so officials abducted her and gave her an injection to terminate the pregnancy. Her husband is demanding government compensation and that the officials be held accountable for their actions. However, to date, few of those responsible have been punished. The couple is under government surveillance. After being prevented from pursuing legal counsel, the husband is now in hiding.
The Communist Party introduced the one-child policy in 1979 in an attempt to control the growth of China’s population. As a result, each year many Chinese women are forced to terminate pregnancies or face large penalties. For poorer women paying the fine is often not an option. The policy has been controversial from the beginning, with prominent businessmen and even some former government family planning officials publicly expressing their misgivings.