Three officials suspended for forced abortion
By Li Qian |
June 15, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THREE officials in northwest China's Shaanxi Province have been suspended pending further investigation after a seven-months pregnant woman was forced by local authorities to abort her second child.
The three officials involved are Jiang Nenghai, Zhenping County's top family planning official; Chen Pengyin, head of Zhenping's Zengjia Town; and Long Chunlai, Zengjia Town's family planning official.
The city government of Ankang, which oversees the county, made the decision late yesterday and apologized to the victim, Feng Jianmei. Ankang government also guaranteed tough punishments for disciplined officials after the investigation.
Feng, 27, was forced to terminate her pregnancy at seven months in a hospital in Zhenping on June 2. Details of the case, including several photos showing the remains of the fetus lying next to the mother on her hospital bed, were posted on online forums and have shocked and angered many people nationwide.
Women whose pregnancies go past six months are banned from abortions. Zhenping family planning officials grossly violated the law, damaged the image of the family-planning work and brought a serious negative impact, said the Shaanxi Provincial Population and Family Planning Bureau.
The bureau said it would launch an investigation across the province to clamp down on violations and prevent similar cases.
Zhenping authorities had claimed that Feng Jianmei, 23, agreed to terminate her pregnancy after she was informed she did not qualify for a second baby. Feng, from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, married a rural man in Zhenping in 2006 and gave birth to a girl the next year.
After she was found in violation of the one-child policy, local officials persuaded her to undergo an induced abortion on June 2, according to the statement published on the Zhenping Family Planning Commission's website.
However, Feng told China Business newspaper that dozens of officials "coerced me to sign and put my fingerprint on the operation agreement."
"Around 9am on June 2, many people rushed to cover my face with a black coat and dragged me to the hospital," Feng cried.
Her father-in-law rushed to the hospital but was blocked by officials, the paper said.
The three officials involved are Jiang Nenghai, Zhenping County's top family planning official; Chen Pengyin, head of Zhenping's Zengjia Town; and Long Chunlai, Zengjia Town's family planning official.
The city government of Ankang, which oversees the county, made the decision late yesterday and apologized to the victim, Feng Jianmei. Ankang government also guaranteed tough punishments for disciplined officials after the investigation.
Feng, 27, was forced to terminate her pregnancy at seven months in a hospital in Zhenping on June 2. Details of the case, including several photos showing the remains of the fetus lying next to the mother on her hospital bed, were posted on online forums and have shocked and angered many people nationwide.
Women whose pregnancies go past six months are banned from abortions. Zhenping family planning officials grossly violated the law, damaged the image of the family-planning work and brought a serious negative impact, said the Shaanxi Provincial Population and Family Planning Bureau.
The bureau said it would launch an investigation across the province to clamp down on violations and prevent similar cases.
Zhenping authorities had claimed that Feng Jianmei, 23, agreed to terminate her pregnancy after she was informed she did not qualify for a second baby. Feng, from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, married a rural man in Zhenping in 2006 and gave birth to a girl the next year.
After she was found in violation of the one-child policy, local officials persuaded her to undergo an induced abortion on June 2, according to the statement published on the Zhenping Family Planning Commission's website.
However, Feng told China Business newspaper that dozens of officials "coerced me to sign and put my fingerprint on the operation agreement."
"Around 9am on June 2, many people rushed to cover my face with a black coat and dragged me to the hospital," Feng cried.
Her father-in-law rushed to the hospital but was blocked by officials, the paper said.
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