Chinese Mum Receives £7,160 For Forced Abortion At Seven Months

Chinese Mum Receives £7,160 For Forced Abortion At Seven Months

Feng Jianmei after her forced abortion. Pic: Rex

A woman in China has been given compensation of £7,160 after she was forced to have an abortion at seven months.

She was paid the money by Chinese officials after they forcibly induced the termination because she already had a child and could not afford to pay a fine if she'd kept another.

The mother's story – widely reported on Parentdish.co.uk and worldwide – caused outrage after a photograph of her alongside her seven-month-old foetus was published.

Feng Jianmei, 23, and her husband Deng Jiyuan had planned legal action against the government but they have instead agreed to take the 70,600 yuan offered to them.

Deng said he and his family wanted to return to a normal life in Ankang, in Shaanxi province.

Forced abortions are illegal in China, but the family came under intense pressure after speaking out.

Relatives said they were followed, harassed and denounced as traitors for speaking to foreign media.

Authorities in Ankang later said they had fired two officials over the case and given five more formal warnings.

Deng said his wife had been hooded, forced into a car and forcibly injected to induce the abortion because they could not afford the 40,000 yuan fine for having a second child.

Asked if the family were satisfied with the deal, his sister Deng Jicai told the Guardian: "It can only be like this. Not everything can be measured in money."

Zhang Kai, a lawyer who has been advising the family, said:

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"70,000 for a person's life? It is too little."

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