Forced abortion of seven-month old baby--graphic

I was a bit disgusted to read about the enforcement of China's one-child policy from The New York Times a couple days ago. According to the article, a woman who was holding a seven-month-old fetus was forced by local officials to abort the baby (Wong, 2012). I feel as though I might as well call it a baby, because by 24 weeks, some fetuses can survive on their own. I have witnessed it as a nurse. The woman, Feng Jianmei, was reportedly abducted after not paying a $6,300 fine for the second pregnancy. When that failed to thwart her, she was taken into the hospital where they induced her. After the details of her ordeal were released to the public (after some trouble, I am sure), Chinese officials visited Ms. Feng and apologized (Wong, 2012).

Ms. Feng post-unwanted-induced abortion from http://www.allgirlsallowed.org/sites/default/files/Feng%20Jianmei%20Post-Abortion.jpg

This issue is a bit harder to comment on without delving into the politics surrounding China. Regardless, I believe the stunts pulled by the officials were horrendous and disrespectful to not only the mother and the father, but to the unborn baby. Contrary to my support for stem cell research, this baby was not killed/used for the purpose of research that would benefit the community, nor did the mother offer the baby for research. The baby was killed for (as far as I am concerned) no good reason. If there were disagreements concerning the birth of the child, there were other ways to address those concerns. Perhaps, instead of killing the child, the officials could have slapped Ms. Feng with a bill and deduce amounts from her or her husband's paycheck (they do that here with student loans when people refuse to pay, I know). Killing the baby was nothing more than a chance for the Chinese officials to show-off the power they had over Ms. Feng, and it was an inappropriate use of power.

Ms. Feng plans to have a second child if she gets her health back (Wong, 2012). I hope she has a third.

Reference:

Wong, E. (2012, June 26). Forced to abort, chinese woman under pressure. The New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/world/asia/chinese-family-in-forced-abortion-case-still-under-pressure.html?_r=1