In the past, China has been known as a country with a fast-growing population due to the high birth rate. In relation to their growing population, they already had one of the highest total populations in the world. Due to China’s immense population, the government had concluded that it would be a good idea to put in a law that stated you could only have one child, the “one-child policy.” Along with the law they were known for decades to force women to have abortions when pregnancies were “deemed illegal by the state.” Alongside the one-child policy that had been implemented in 1979, there had been a “traditional preference for sons also led to sex-selective abortions.” As of 2015, China’s one-child policy had diminished somewhat to whereas, in 2021, China made some different decisions. The country was facing a significantly lower birth rate and decided to ban abortions, making a stand in the opposite direction. The government put out a policy referred to as a 10-year plan in order to further women's rights over the next decade which included the new abortion policy. Spiking a considerable reaction from the public by their decision China has been under a tremendous amount of scrutiny. According to government officials, the restrictions on abortions referred to “non-medical” abortions and promote gender equality for women.
The recent policy sparked a controversial outrage from many of the Chinese population because of its lack of specifics and reasoning. Over the years in China, women’s rights have been a topic that has held a lot of weight in the fact that women aren’t seen equally to their counterparts. China’s government official's reasoning on why they implemented the abortion policy was to create gender equality and hold men accountable for their actions of impregnating women. When in reality they are only contributing to the problem at hand, women shouldn’t be told what to do with their own body especially by an entity that has nothing to do with any aspect of it. The decision to implement the abortion policy wasn’t to create gender equality it was to increase birth rates in a country that over the past couple of years had a dwindling population due to lower birth rates. In 2015 the “one-child policy” was uplifted and in May of this year, the government announced that families would be allowed to now have three children. Unlike other countries, China controls the number of children you may have which is a total red flag. How are you trying to promote gender equality if women can’t make their own decisions based on their personal wants and needs? Another point that was made by the government was that abortions could affect the harmony and happiness of a family due to the risk of infertility from abortions. Again here is an instance in which the government is interfering in a position that has nothing to do with them or the country of China. The happiness and harmony of one’s family should not be a countries main point in the explanation and reasoning for the implementation of a policy. Personally, I believe the women in China should take a strong stand against this policy. It’s the 21st-century women should be able to make decisions based on their own situation. In order to enforce this policy, it would have to be implemented to all women and every women has a different situation and reason why they would like to have an abortion.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/01/china/non-medical-abortions-mic-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/27/china-to-limit-abortions-for-non-medical-purposes
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/world/asia/china-abortion-limits.html
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