WASHINGTON DC – Single women in China are not allowed to give birth, reports humanitarian organization All Girls Allowed (AGA) at a Congressional hearing Thursday, Sept. 22.
The One-Child Policy has “prevented” more than 400 million lives since its start in 1980, and was supposed to end last September. This anniversary is a surprise for some.
“We must remember that the policy is One-Child-Per-Couple,” says Chai Ling, founder of All Girls Allowed. “No marriage certificate, no birth permit. No birth permit, no baby.”
Ling will also share a very personal testimony about her own abortion experience.
“Not every unmarried pregnant woman in China is dragged to a clinic for a forced abortion,” says. “But walking in yourself because you have no choice can be equally as painful.”
Ling also points out that rampant abortion (with the majority of China’s women having more than one abortion) is not a cultural practice. Before the policy began, there were fewer than 5 million abortions a year in China. Today, there are up to 23 million annually. Many of these are coerced or forced: research shows that over 70 percent of women want two or more children.
Two victims will testify: Ping Liu, a victim of 5 forced abortions, and Yeqing Ji: a victim of one recent forced abortion.
The hearing, sponsored by the Africa, Global Health and Human Rights Subcommittee, will be held Thursday, Sept. 22, at 11:30a.m. in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2200.
WHAT: Congressional Hearing on China's One-Child Policy: The Government's Massive Crime Against Women and Unborn Babies
DATE: Thursday, September 22, 2011
TIME: 2:00 PM
LOCATION: Room 2200 of the Rayburn House Office Building
WITNESSES:
Ms. Chai Ling
Founder
All Girls Allowed
Ms. Reggie Littlejohn
Founder and President
Women’s Rights Without Frontiers
Valerie Hudson, Ph.D
Professor
Department of Political Science
Brigham Young University
Xiaorong Li
Researcher and Writer
Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy
University of Maryland
Ping Liu:
Victim of 5 forced abortions
Yeqing Ji:
Victim of a recent forced abortion
Congressional Hearing Focuses on One-Child Policy on its 31st Anniversary
AGA Press Release
September 22, 2011
Victims testify; Chai Ling, Founder of All Girls Allowed shares personal experience of coerced abortion for the first time; speaks out for unmarried women in China.
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