China: Expired Permit? Then we’ll need you to ‘agree’ to kill that child

From: LifeSiteNews.com

Seven years ago, Tang Leqiong was approached by officials in her home, taken to a hospital, and forced to abort her eight-month-old unborn child. Why? Because her permit had expired.

Tang was registered as a member of the farm population, entitling her to have a second child after giving birth to a girl in 1996. She applied for a permit on April 19, 2002 and received it on April 26.

Tang became pregnant in July 2004 and was due April 7, 2005. In February 2005, eight months into her pregnancy, local population authorities told her the permit was invalid. When she planned to protest the blanket decision, she was taken to a hospital.

“In the hospital, I was forced to take abortion pills under the supervision of a doctor who collaborated with the officials,” Tang said. “After that, the doctor gave me an injection through my stomach. Then my baby was motionless.”

Fang Hongping, then-director of the Xinping population bureau, denied Tang was forced. He said that because Tang and her husband did not have a second child within one year of receiving the permit, their eligibility expired.

“We persuaded them [of this] in about one week and received their approval,” Fang said. “She signed the surgery permit by herself under our witness. We never forced her.”

The situation has led to criticism even from academics at the main Chinese University.  Regardless of their scope of authority, in this case officials went against their own rules according to Zhai Zhenwu, dean of the School of Sociology and Population Studies at the Renmin University of China.

“Since Tang was officially permitted to have the second child, she was legally authorized to give birth to the child, even if her permission expired,” he said.

Tang has fought for retribution since 2005, petitioning local government to punish the officials involved and finally resorting to posting her experience online.

She is not alone. Other women face the same violent mistreatment: in June, Feng Jianmei was forced to abort her seven-month-old unborn child by family planning officials in Zhenping (read her story here).