ROME, JULY 11, 2012 (Zenit.org).- The European Parliament approved last week a resolution condemning the practice of forced abortions and sterilizations in China. The resolution made explicit reference to the kidnapping of a Chinese woman named Feng Jianmei who was in her seventh month of pregnancy and forced to abort the baby.
According to a report published June 3, Feng Jianmei was beaten and dragged to a vehicle of «family planning officials,» while her husband, Deng Jiyuan, was away at work. The officials also asked Feng’s family to pay a ¥40,000 fine. Not having received the amount, they forced abortion, placing the dead baby next to her on the bed. Feng then underwent medical treatment in a nearby village.
It is estimated that about 13 million children are aborted in China every year since the one-child policy was introduced in China in 1979.
The NGO that has helped to carry out this policy especially in China is United Nations Population Fund. Grants to the latter and to other NGOs come from the United States and from the European Union, who now reacted to the policy with the resolution.
“We condemn the increase of coercive abortions in China because it is a flagrant violation of human rights,” said parliamentarian Alojz Peterle, who negotiated the final text. “This is an unacceptable practice for the European Parliament.”
The resolution encourages the European Commission to reconsider its grants to projects in China to ensure that no European funds are allocated to coercive reproductive health programs and policies as has happened to date.
During the debate on this resolution, Peterle said: “European contributors must know where their money goes: the Commission must proceed to large-scale investigation of the organizations and programs that receive funds for purposes of reproductive health and family planning.”
The resolution stresses the right of all women to access public health and suggests that family planning should be about choosing the number and spacing of children. The resolution also stresses the lack of gender balance created by the one-child policy in China.
The question of forced abortions is expected be debated in the forthcoming meeting on human rights between the European Union and China.
[Reporting by Elisabetta Pittino]
