Today in 1997, China's population control laws are very strict. In my opinion the laws are too restrictive and harsh. I think that forced abortion, sterilization and the killing of innocent infants is cruel and uneccessary. The government should find another way of dealing with their immense population.
What is the One Child Policy? Why is it needed?
In China, married couples are only allowed to have one child; the policy that states this is called the One Child Policy. The One Child Policy exists because there is a need for China to decrease the growth in it's population. China has the largest population in the world. In the future there could be a major food shortage in China because of it's huge population. Today China is faced with problems such as unemployment and underemployment in the countryside, the spread of pollution in the air and water and increased urbanization. The Chinese government thinks that it's policies are necessary to raise the minimum standard of living for it's current population.
Positive results:
The One Child Policy has brought the birthrate in China down. In 1970 the birthrate was 33.43 per thousand, and in 1990 the birthrate dropped to 21.06 per thousand people.The average number of children per woman in 1970, in China was 5.01, and in 1990 the number of children per woman has dropped to 2.31 children.
Negative results:
There are many negative results from the One Child Policy. There has been a large increase in the number of abandoned children, and there has been a large increase in the number of deaths in female infants that have been caused by their parents.
An example of forced abortion:
It is not uncommon for women in China to become pregnant with a second child, but it is very uncommon for that child to live. An example of the harshness of China's population control laws is the case of one woman who was pregnant with her second child. The police found her and arrested her. They forced her to a local family planning center. At the family planning center, the woman was injected with rivanol which is an abortion drug that is supposed to make the baby be born dead. The abortion didn't go as planned, and the baby was born alive. Doctor Yin Wong was called in to terminate the life of this innocent, new born baby boy. In the event that there is an abortion survivor, an injection of twenty milliliters of iodine or alcohol is injected into the soft spot on the infants head. This will kill the infant within five minutes. The older doctors at the center had always taken care of injecting the infants. Dr. Wong refused to kill the infant. Dr. Wong tries to save the infant's life. When her superiors found that the infant was still alive they ordered her to give the injection immediately. Doctor Wong refused again. Doctor Wong was banished to a remote mountain region in China because of her actions. Luckily she was able to escape from China.
United Nations World Conference on Women:
Women from around the world came together in Beijing, China for the fourth United Nations Conference on Women in September of 1995. Many listeners were shocked by the address Hillary Rodham-Clinton made in Beijing. "It is a violation of human rights when women are denied the right to plan their own families, and that includes being forced to have abortions or being sterilized against their will," said Mrs.Clinton.
Conclusion:
Many things go on in China that are unknown by people in other countries. The stories of forced abortion can be very sad and hard to believe, but they are true. What is going on in China isn't right, and it should be stopped. China can't kill unwanted infants. Every infant should have the right to live and be cared for by his/her parents. Today in 1997, women in China still do not have the right to plan their own families. The problems and violations of human rights in China are very hard to correct, but that doesn't mean these problems can never be fixed.
Bibliography
1. "China", Grolier's Multimedia Encyclopedia .1995 ed.
2. "China's Population Policy" URL: http://www.com/China "One Child Policy"
(13 January 1997)
3. "Current News about the chinese Population Problem" URL: http://www.com/ China"One Child Policy" (13 January 1997)
4. Maynard, Roy "Human Rights Abuses in China" 1995. URL: http://www.com/China "Human Rights" (7 January 1997)
5. Wong, Dr. Yin "A Question of Duty" Reader's Digest,. September 1995.