More than 300 million abortions in China under one-child policy
NEARLY
330 million abortions have been performed in China in the 40 years
since it first implemented measures to limit population growth in the
world’s most populous nation, official data showed. China has announced
structural changes to its family planning system which oversees the
controversial one-child policy during the ongoing annual meeting of the
national legislature in Beijing. Data posted on the health ministry
website earlier this year shows that from 1971—shortly before China
started encouraging people to have fewer children— through 2010 a total
of 328.9 million abortions were carried out in the country, which has a
population of 1.35 billion. China says that its one-child policy
introduced in the early 1980s has prevented overpopulation and boosted
economic development. The policy exempts some rural families, ethnic
minorities and couples who are both only children. Calls have increased,
however, for the restriction to be phased out as the country’s labour
pool shrinks and the ranks of the elderly swell. Human rights groups
have criticised what they say are harsh enforcement methods. Under the
policy, urban families are generally allowed to have just one child,
while rural families may have a second if the first is a girl. Those who
contravene the rules must pay a fine. Last Sunday, the government
announced the merger of the National Population and Family Planning
Commission, which oversees the policy, with the health ministry in a
move state media said was meant to improve, not abandon the one-child
policy. “After the reform, China will adhere to and improve the family
planning policy,” Ma Kai, secretary general of the State Council,
China’s cabinet, said when the move was announced, according to the
official Xinhua news agency. The move was included in a report on
governmental restructuring submitted to the National People’s Congress,
the country’s legislature, which ends its annual session on Sunday.
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