Choose Life: Chinese Government Ends Forced Abortion Policy

After international protests, criticism from public officials and prayer from Christians all over the world, the Chinese government has put an end to its horrific policy of forcing abortions on women who violate their One Child policy.

Chai Ling, founder of All Girls Allowed, a Christian advocacy group that fights against ‘gendercide’ and seeks to expose China’s One Child Policy hailed the ban on forced abortions as “awesome progress.”  Under the One Child Policy, couples are restricted to having one child in order to control population growth.  However this has been enforced through massive fines, forced sterilization and in many cases, forced abortions (the Chinese government estimates it forces 13 million women to have abortions each year).  These barbaric policies have led many families to favor boy children over girls and thus many girl babies are privately aborted or murdered shortly after birth, a phenomenon that has garnered the name “gendercide.”  Given the all out assault on the rights of the Unborn, Ling hailed the ban on forced abortions as a huge success:

“When God told Moses that the Red Sea would part, it did. Last year a prophecy was given that God would end the One-Child Policy in China, and I rejoice that God is already doing it,” she said in a statement. “The media’s exposure of this injustice has been invaluable, and people in China and around the world are standing boldly against injustice. This has made China understand that they can no longer hide the brutal truth.”

Under China’s one-child policy, family planning officials have long dragged women pregnant with an additional child to hospitals where they were forced to have an abortion.

One case that drew international attention and widespread media coverage in June involved a 7-month pregnant woman, Feng Jianmei. After being beaten by family planning officials, she was forced to sign an abortion “consent” form and toxins were injected into the brain of her unborn daughter. She gave birth to her deceased child on June 4. A picture of her lying on a hospital bed next to her baby was released. (source)

While there was much controversy over whether the publishing of the young woman next to her murdered baby was appropriate, Kat Lewis, a spokeswoman for All Girls Allowed stated that the gruesome photo and the subsequent outrage it caused, played a role in the pressure put on China to change its policy.

“If there had been no graphic picture of her (Feng Jianmei), no media firestorm, no global outcry, and no anger voiced by social media users in China …. then the central government might never have done anything,” (source)

All Girls Allowed: Fighting for Human Rights In The Name of Jesus

But the main source of inspiration for All Girls Allowed is the Bible. As they state on their website:

All Girls Allowed seeks to restore the God-given life, value and dignity to women by seeking transformation both of hearts and of societies. We seek to emulate God’s command in Micah 6:8 (act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God) by:

1. Exposing the injustice of China’s One-Child Policy;
2. Rescuing girls and mothers from gendercide in society; and
3. Celebrating women by embracing them as equal image-bearers of God through our pledge:

In Jesus’ Name, Simply Love Her

In so doing, we pray that God would end the One-Child Policy, uproot gendercide in hearts and in societies, and bring complete restoration to his people. (source)

In their statement of faith, there is no question that the group is motivated by their duty to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ first and foremost. But within the responsibilities of a Christian life is God’s call to cry for judgment against atrocities and sin in society:

All Girls Allowed is motivated by the love of Jesus Christ, who—by serving the least of us—set us an example that we should do as he has done for us. We draw inspiration from Jesus’ countercultural concern and affection for women and children, and we hope likewise to restore to them the life, value and dignity that they deserve as fellow image-bearers of God. The following two Scriptures have been of particular inspiration for our work:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” -Matthew 19:14

In all that we do, we seek to give God thanksgiving and praise for his work of redemption among his people. In keeping with Jesus’ example of unconditional love, the All Girls Allowed movement includes and serves all people regardless of nationality, religion, race, ethnicity, gender, or political affiliation. (source)

Life Is Formed In The Womb

As the verses above state, the Bible is clear that it is God who creates life at in the womb:

“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalm 139)

The shedding of innocent blood is a sin and Christians should not only not participate in murder but advocate against it.

Continue in prayer for this organization that is fighting an incredibly difficult battle in hostile conditions. China is notorious for its oppression of Christians who do not adhere to their policy of government-run churches. There is a massive underground church movement in China that has drawn the ire of the government. Christians have been sent to concentration camps for their faith. More Christians are in prison for their faith in China than in any other country in the world. Despite this grim reality, Christians continue to speak out in the name of Christ to spread the Gospel and to call for judgment against injustice and rampant sin in their nation.

Give thanks and praise to God for this major step in the battle protect women and defend the lives of those who have the tiniest voice in our society, the Unborn. Their rights rarely get mentioned by the big budget, celebrity-endorsed human rights organizations. But God sees them, knows them and remembers them. And Christians should as well.

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live..” – Deuteronomy 30:18.