But The Law SAys You

Can Only Have One Baby Essay, Research Paper

But the Law Says You Can Only Have One Baby…

Imagine for a minute a newlyweded woman. Who want more than anything to have a child maybe two maybe three, but in her country there are strict rules; she can have only one. So she and her husband apply to have that one precious baby, since they need the governments permission. She then get pregnant, 5 months down the road they find out that it is a girl. She is made to abort the baby. What are they going to do about it ? Nothing, because they have no choice. If this woman were real she would be living in China and her family would be controlled by the government and the one child policy.

China?s attempt at making the lives of their people better simply does nothing but put them in unnecessary pain. The law is cruel and unjust and should have never been put in affect. The one child policy was established in 1979, in an attempt to regulate the out of control population increase. In 1979, when the policy was adopted, the population in China was over 950 million people. Today, in the year 2000, the population has skyrocketed to over 1.3 billion people (Gilmore np ). China is extremely overcrowded and is continuing to grow.Statistics show China?s population is growing at rate where they are eventually going to run out of places to house and feed their people.

For many families in China the policy seemed to be a good decision. The government was doing this in the best interest of the people and with nothing but good intentions. The goal was to reduce the population increase by 5% by 1985, and to then move on and reach the goal of 0% increase by the year 2000 ( Maynard np). Though many viewed the policy as negative, the government tried to offer some incentives to following the new laws. For example, families in compliance with the policy were often given money, free health services, preferential housing, and better access to education opportunities. Birth control pills, condoms and other forms of contraception were made easily available, not only for birth control,but to help stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Chinese executives attempted to make the policy seem socially acceptable and used fear as a deterrent to not following the policy. Chinese natives were subject to physical abuse, social embarrassment that could ruin their social status for life, imprisonment and even death( Gilmore np). The Chinese government may have had a good idea in trying to find way to control the population. There seems to be no reason to allow the population to increase when eventually you will have no where to house and nothing to feed these people.

Though the policy seemed to have good intentions and seemed to be put in action for a worthy cause the policy itself was very sugar coated. If the policy is so great why are so many Chinese fleeing the country and coming to America? Many spend their life savings to spend weeks, even months, on ships or in cargo holds to gain asylum from this policy. They do it because the conditions in which the policy is enforced are inhumane and take away a couples choice to have a family.The people of China should not Dee the need to run from their own government and especially not at the expense of losing their lives in the process. For example, one of the 282 Chinese immigrants found in the cargo hold of the Golden Venture landing in Mississippi two years ago recalls an account of her life in China ( Maynard np). This is just one example of the harsh lengths which these people are subjecting themselves to so that they can have more control of their life.Her name was ? Dottie? as given to her by the jailers, after she and the others were discovered and detained tells a loathsome story of the policy that Chinese officials claim was in her best interest

( Maynard np). But if the policy is in her best interest why was she jailed for trying to get away. The government, determined to enforce the policy allowed Chinese doctors to force ? Dottie ? to have a intrauterine device placed in her uterus after the birth of her second child. For the four years that the device was inside her she experienced bleeding and cramps on a regular basis. After decided she was not to put up with it anymore she paid a private physician $200 to remove it. When word got out the police showed up at her door with a court order to have her sterilized.( Maynard np )

? Dottie?s? story is just one of many appalling stories coming from the enforcement of this policy. Hundreds of other woman have described forced abortions of full-term babies. One woman tells the story of how she watched nurses take her baby from her arms never to return. Just for the simple fact that it was a little girl and more than likely that child was murdered because it was the wrong sex.

( ippf.org/newsinfo/archive/9902/11).Also it is not just the woman who suffer from this policy. There are accounts of men losing their homes and jobs because they have more than one child. Why should a man lose his job or the right to provided for his family simply because he wants to expand his family? There is no reason for it and no excuse.

In the Chinese culture men are regarded much higher than woman and it is expected of a woman to bare her husband a son so that he can carry on the family name and legacy

( Bingham 27 ). An old Chinese saying states that ? The birth of a son is a big happiness, but the birth of a daughter is a small happiness?( Bingham 42 ). As part of the Chinese culture the one child policy is also partial to boys as well. With the advancement in technology and the capability of finding out the sex of the child before birth the consequence of having a girl has become steep. Sex-selective abortions occurred and even the murder of infant girls. It was estimated that between 500,000 and 750,000 girls are aborted every year (www.cpirc.org.cn/eindex.htm np). That over 100,000 lives lost every two years. Lives of little girls who one day may grow to be president or the love of a mans? life, but that is all taken away.That is an expense that the world should not be willing to take.

The Chinese have not abolished the policy but are trying to move away from it. Now, many expectant mothers with one previous child are not forced to abort , but are given counseling where abortion and or sterilization is strongly suggested. Also now there is a fee that must be paid to allow a family to have more than one child. Though these conditions are less severe than forced sterilization or abortion many of these gruesome acts still occur yet the government seems to know nothing about them.

(www.forerunner.org/mandate/x0046_human_rights_abuses_html. np )

In 1979 when the policy was adopted the population was out of control and still today the population has almost doubled. The policy is not working and it?s amazing that the government has not recognized this. Since the policy has been introduced the population has almost doubled.( Gilmore np ) If killing innocent children and causing their people immeasurable pain then the law has served its purpose. But if the law was put into place to simply control the population it was a bad idea and the Chinese powers that be went about enforcing it in a manner in which they would not enforce upon their own wives and children. The government did not accomplish it?s initial goal of having a 0% population increase, so why is the law still in practice? The government of China or of any country for that matter does not right to tell it?s people they can only have one child or they must suffer the consequences of permanent physical and irreversible emotional damage and pain. It is the way of nature and our human right to reproduce. Children are a gift are to be loved and adored no matter what sex or quantity. Many countries are in opposition of China?s policy because it is inhumane and cruel. Thousands of people are trying to flee China and coming to the United States searching for asylum from a policy that should never have been put in place. One day and hopefully soon China will realize how much this policy is hurting their people as well as their reputation with the rest of the world.

Annotated Bibliography

Bingham,Majorie and Susan Gross. Women In Traditional China. Hudson: Gary Mccuen Publications. 1979. This book was an excellent source of back ground information about the sate in which men are held in higher regard than women. It was very useful in helping to show that the policy was more favorable to boys.

? China.? 1999. http://ippf.org./newsinfo/archive/9902/11.( 3 April 2000 ). This article was a very good source of statistical information. It was very simple and easy to read and follow I had no trouble picking out the facts that I needed.

? China?s One Child Policy. ? http://www.cpirc.org.con/eindex.htm/ ( 28 March 2000). This was an official Chinese website that was very helpful. I used this site to find statistics as well as real accounts of the enforcement of the policy.

Gilmore, Susan.? Chinese Stowaways Cite One Child Law In Quest For Asylum.? 2000. http://www.seattletimes.com ( 28 March 2000). This article was amazing. I use it to give real life account of a Chinese woman.

Maynard, Roy. ? Growing Concern.? http://www.forerunner.org/mandate/x0046_human_rights_abuse_html. ( 28 March 2000 ). This article was written by a United States Congressman against the policy. It was helpful for a point of view from someone in power.

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