Xinhua News Network, the offical news outlet for China’s government, announced late last night that one offical has been fired for his role in the forced abortion of Feng Jianmei’s 7-month old fetus. However, the article is contradictory in its explanation as to what lead up to that horrible event.
The article states that “there was also no legal basis for the township government’s demand that Feng and her family pay a deposit of 40,000 yuan (about 6,228 U.S. dollars) for a certificate allowing her to have her second child.” But then the article says “under family planning laws, Feng was not legally entitled to have a second child.” As usual, getting a straight answer out of China’s officals is just not going to happen. But at least there is continuing fallout for the city administraitors on this issue. One man has been fired, several others have been “punished,” and the city has been ordered topay compensation to the family. There has been no word, though, on if the city is going to do anything about the harrassment the family has been subjected to since returning to their home.
According to China’s 2012 Human Rights Plan of Action, basically nothing is supposed to change in the area of family planning laws until at least 2015. However, in light of the outcry surrounding Feng Jianmei, some people are speculating that changes might come after the leadership transition that will occur later this year (though certainly not before).