CHINA: Husband Of Chinese Woman Forced To Have An Abortion By Chinese Authorities When She Was 7 Months Pregnant, Is Seeking Compensation For Gross Violation Committed Against Them!

The Telegraph UK

Husband of Chinese woman forced to have abortion to seek compensation

written by Staff

Tuesday July 10, 2012

Chinese authorities, who restrict most families from having more than one child, last month forced Feng Jianmei, who was seven months pregnant, to undergo an abortion in northern Shaanxi province after she failed to pay a hefty fine.

While activists say that such cases are common, Feng's case drew widespread attention due to pictures of the bloody corpse of the foetus. Unusually, state media reported on the case and said that several officials had been punished.

Feng's husband, Deng Jiyuan, was later reported to have gone missing. But Bob Fu, the head of the Christian advocacy group ChinaAid, said that Deng slipped past surveillance and headed to Beijing.

A lawyer representing Deng sent a letter to authorities in Shaanxi over the weekend to request an investigation and awarding of compensation, Fu – who lives in exile in the United States – told a congressional hearing.

Fu said Deng had suffered retaliation over the uproar while still in Shaanxi and that the government "sent people to display a banner in front of their home that read, 'Beat up traitors, run them out'" of town.

"Feng Jianmei's tragedy is repeated hundreds and thousands of times each day in China," Fu told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"Those abusive officials should be held accountable according to international law for their evil, illegal behaviour in harming women and unborn babies," he said.

Deng's flight to Beijing comes two months after one of China's most prominent dissidents, Chen Guangcheng, also slipped to the capital following his accounts of abuse at the hands of local authorities.

Fu and Representative Chris Smith, who chaired Monday's hearing, helped bring international attention to Chen who dramatically called a session in Washington to voice fears for his safety.

After a visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chen was allowed to fly to New York. Chen had angered authorities by exposing corruption by local authorities in enforcing the one-child policy.