China: discourage abortions to revive a declining birth rate
Nearly 9 million voluntary terminations of pregnancy were performed in China in 2021, for 10.62 million births.
© ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP
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1 min
China was a leader in abortions under the one-child policy.
Will she go back to revive births?
This is the concern of women's rights activists in the face of the latest statements from the Chinese family planning agency.
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With our correspondent in Beijing,
Stéphane Lagarde
There is currently no question of going back on the right to abortion in China, but some are visibly thinking of discouraging women from resorting to abortion.
It is in any case the objective displayed by family planning in
its plan published at the end of January
.
The Chinese agency promises
to “intervene
” when unmarried women and adolescent girls ask for abortions, in order to promote “
traditional values
”.
Statements that are part of a public health pilot program to encourage Chinese women to have more children.
It is also in the name of “reproductive health” that this campaign was announced, which comes after the authorization granted to couples
to have a third child.
, in May 2021.
It is necessary to "
totally free fertility
",
said delegates
of the National People's Assembly this spring.
But for now, slogans and injunctions have done nothing.
The birth rate is at record lows.
According
to the National Health Commission
, nearly 9 million abortions were performed in China in 2021 for 10.62 million births.
40% of abortions concern adolescents.
►Also read:
Interview - Demographics in China: "The number of births has never been so low since 1961"
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China
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Demography
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