Surprising as it seems, a host of anti-choicers have demonstrated a clear tilt toward population control when it comes to Muslims. Indeed, it seems apparent that, for them, racism and Islamophobia trump unbridled procreation for Mohammed’s adherents.
Weekly global roundup: Namibian High Court says forced sterilization violated women’s human rights; Spain is looking at tougher abortion restrictions; the world witnesses China’s one-child policy and a gruesome forced abortion; gender equity in New Zealand still not up to snuff.
Horrifying reports of a woman forced to have an abortion draw attention yet again to the dangers of China’s one-child policy. All champions of human rights must openly condemn China’s one-child policy and the illegal practices of forced abortion and coerced birth control reported in some localities. The continued oppression of Chinese families through coercive reproductive policies must end.
On the heels of Vice President Biden’s recent trip to China, the leadership of the House of Representatives issued a misguided ultimatum to President Obama: defund UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, or else.
Thinking about addressing overpopulation as a critical environmental issue is helpful to the argument for reproductive rights.
Late last week Chinese family planning officials made headlines by indicating that Beijing might consider relaxing its thirty-year-old mandatory one-child policy. China’s family planning policies are notable not only for being baldly coercive but also for being the excuse the Bush administration offers for defunding the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
