Volume 24, Number 3 May-June 2014 A review and analysis of worldwide population control activity “Better to be a Criminal in China than a Pregnant Mother” Those who violate the one-child policy are more harshly punished than those who violate other laws Steven W. Mosher HE CHINESE MINISTRY of State Security must have T been asleep on the job. The email that appeared in my inbox read: “It is better to be a criminal in China than a pregnant mother.” Now, I knew that women who get pregnant outside the state plan are often browbeaten or bullied into abortions and sterilizations. But as my mysterious correspon- dent noted, there are a whole range of other punishments for violators of the family planning policies of the PRC, who are treated worse than criminals. First, she said, if you’ve had a child outside the plan, very few people will hire you. Most “work units” (i.e., businesses) require ap- Pregnant women in China are locked up indefinitely until their families can pay a huge fine or their child is aborted. INSIDE THIS ISSUE plicants to submit their “Family Planning they cannot be tortured or subjected to “Better to be a Criminal in China than Certificates” to prove that they have not corporal punishment, and they have the a Pregnant Mother” 1 had an “illegal” child. legal right to file suit if their rights have President’s Page 2 Even criminals—burglars, rapists, been violated. Another U.N. Committee 3 and the like—are allowed to apply for Those who violate the one-child May I Offer You This Gift? 4 jobs after they have been released from policy are stripped of their dignity as Development Desk 5 prison. But the parent of an “illegal” human beings and enjoy no rights. They Humanae Vitae 6 child without a “Family Planning Cer- can be illegally detained for an indefinite “You Must Abort!” 7-10 tificate” is not even allowed to apply! period of time by the Family Planning From the Countries 11 Second, even criminals enjoy certain Bureau. They can be forcibly aborted PRI in the News 12 basic human rights, as laid out by Article or forcibly sterilized. And, if they try to Aborto Cero 15 37 of the PRC Constitution. They can- take legal action, they will find out that Global Monitor 16 not be detained without probable cause, CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 The One-Child Policy has Destroyed Another U.N. Committee Runs Amuck The “Committee on Torture” Considers Catholic Teaching to Be “Torture” the Chinese Family By Carlos Beltramo and Steven Mosher More and more Chinese, denied children, are ELIEVE IT OR not, the 10-member groups that maintain that the position of Collins, has long served as a member of rejecting family life altogether UN Committee Against Torture the Catholic Church on contraception and this commission. Steven W. Mosher B spent two days, May 5-6, 2014, abortion constitutes torture. Another example is the report sub- It wasn’t so long ago that the ideal population of elderly, living alone or as attacking the Catholic Church and its The chairman of the Committee on mitted by the Center for Constitutional Chinese family was large, consisting of couples. teachings. Torture, Claudio Grossman, has a long Rights (CCR) on behalf of the Survivors multiple generations, and sometimes Although the report, written by the It’s not as if this is any surprise. Last history of abortion and population control Network of those Abused by Priests multiple families, living together. In fact, population control enforcers themselves, January, the chairwoman of another UN activism. In 1994 he participated in a con- (SNAP). author Lao She entitled his bestselling doesn’t blame these trends on the Party- committee, the Committee on the Rights ference that examined possible strategies And, finally, there is this from the novel about life in Beijing under Japanese State’s policies, they are clearly to blame of the Child, “demanded” that the Holy for ensuring that reproductive rights are Center for Reproductive Rights: rule, Four Generations Under One Roof. in every case. Take the tens of millions of See change Catholic doctrine to accept respected in practice at the local, national, “Urge the Holy See to review its posi- But that was before the one-child unmarried young workers, for instance, gay marriage, abortion, contraception, and international levels. (Gilbert, Lauren, tion on abortion in order to permit abor- policy decimated Chinese families, dis- who range in age from their mid-teens to etc., because the current position of Ann Shalleck, and Claudio Grossman. tion for women and girls, including when couraging the young from marrying and their late twenties. the Church supposedly violates the “Conference on the Interventional Pro- their lives and physical or mental health having children, aborting and sterilizing The report blames the young for delay- human rights of children. The Church tection of Reproductive Rights: Preface.” are at risk, when there is a non-viable hundreds of millions of expectant moth- ing marriage to pursue career goals, save PRI Staff was also roundly attacked for “allowing” American University Law Review 44, no. fetus, when they are the victims of sexual up for down payments on cars or houses, Founder: priests to abuse children, ignoring the 4 (April 1995): 963-967.) violence, or any other circumstance in ers, and leaving the elderly bereft of the Fr. Paul Marx, OSB, PhD (1920-2010) fulfill lifestyle choices, or wait to find the Holy See’s significant steps to end these Such are the ideologues who are trying which they experience severe physical children and grandchildren who would President: Steven W. Mosher have loved and supported them in old right mate. It ignores the primary reason crimes. Indeed, at the or mental pain or why young people are waiting to marry: Executive Vice President: time both Fr. Lombardi suffering. age. Joel Bockrath “The chairman of the Committee on Torture... early marriage is against the law. The and Msgr. Tomasi, who “Urge the Holy The upheaval caused by the Party- Media Coordinator: rules state that men can’t marry until they Anne Roback Morse serve in the Mission See to refrain from State’s intervention into the private has a long history of abortion and population are in their mid-to-late twenties, while Editor: of the Holy See to the negatively interfer- lives of its citizens is reflected in a new Matthew Camp women can’t marry until they reach the UN’s Human Rights control activism.” ing publicly or pri- report from China’s National Health and Development Coordinator: age of 23 to 25. Steven Wood Commission, noted that vately in women’s Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), Director, PRI Latin American Office: And don’t forget that, because of the the accusations not only exaggerate the to influence the Committee on Torture to and legislator’s decisions concerning the bureau charged with enforcing the Carlos Polo selective abortion and infanticide of tens Director, PRI European Office: problem, they ignore the numerous ac- find that the Holy See is guilty of “torture.” access to contraception and to support one-child policy. Not surprisingly, the of millions of girls, there are an equal Carlos Beltramo tions already taken by the Holy See to Like the Committee on the Rights of the states as they attempt to align their poli- report shows that family size is shrinking number of young men who will never Population Research Institute Review is published correct any abuses. Child, they are focusing on sexual abuse by cies on women’s reproductive rights with rapidly, from 5.3 people at the time of the monthly by: Population Research Institute marry, since the girls they would have P.O. Box 1559 / Front Royal, VA 22630 USA Now the same thing is happening priests (old news) and Catholic doctrine in their obligations under the Convention Communist Revolution to only around Phone: (540) 622-5240 married have been killed. E-mail: [email protected] / Internet: www.pop.org again, this time under the auspices of the areas of abortion, contraception, and against Torture.” three today. The constant barrage of anti-people © PRI 2014 another committee of the Human Rights “gay marriage.” Clearly, such groups are virulently The primary driver of this decline is, propaganda has also had an anti-natal Commission. The Committee Against For instance, among the “Shadow opposed to the teachings and practices of course, the one-child policy, which effect. When they are finally allowed to is again a direct consequence of the Torture is criticizing the Holy See’s initial Reports” available we find one by the so- of the Catholic Church relating to the allows urban couples only one child and marry, many young couples choose to Party-State’s policies of restricting the report under the “Convention against called Child Rights International Network issues of life, abortion, sexuality, sexual rural couples two. This trend has been delay having their only child, or decide number of babies born. True to form, the Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or (CRIN) called “Sexual Abuse of Children orientation, marriage, family, bioethics, accelerated as the young flee to the cities to opt out of the child-raising altogether. report discusses the fact that millions of Degrading Treatment or Punishment.” by Catholic Clerics as a Form of Torture or or euthanasia. Some members of the in search of economic opportunity, leav- The number of married couples with young Chinese now work in cities far The problem, according to the “Solidarity Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment Committee against Torture are as well, ing villages peopled by the very old and children has, according to the report, from home, or choose to live in their own Center for Law and Justice”, is that the and Punishment.” The report accuses the and are unable to impartially review the the very young.