China has announced that it is to reduce abortion for “non-medical” purposes and increase support for women raising families. The announcement follows China’s decision to relax its extreme child policy to allow couples up to three children. The change in policy stems from rising concerns over China’s declining birth rates.
China’s notorious one-child policy, enforced in 1979 to halt the rising birth rate, was replaced in 2016 by a two-child limit. This year, that limit was extended to three children, following a striking decline in population growth.
In 2020, 12 million births were recorded in China, compared to 18 million births in 2016.
China has now also pledged to reduce “non-medical abortions” – though the Chinese State Council, which made the declaration, did not define “non-medical” abortion or how it would be reduced.
The State Council, whose guidelines were, in this instance, focused on women’s development, also stated that improving women’s reproductive health underscored its new policy.
In recent years, China has gradually altered its policy to promote families and motherhood, chiefly through lowering costs for parents and subsidising child-rearing and children's education.
While the updated guidelines claim to want to reduce abortion, they also urge men to “share responsibility” in preventing unwanted pregnancies.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “While the reduction of abortion is to be welcomed, of course, one has to question the Chinese State Council’s underlying motives – more concerned, it seems, with population growth than it is with the inherent right to life of unborn children.
“As SPUC has highlighted before, a state should never have the right to tell parents how many children they may have.
“Unfortunately, China is now reeling from the effects of its ill-judged and immoral one-child policy, which resulted in countless forced abortions.
“Hopefully, China’s change of mind will also lead to an even more dramatic change of heart, acknowledging the evil of abortion – a recognition that may, in turn, lead to a pro-life China.”
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