Forced abortion of Feng Jianmei

On June 2, 2012, Feng Jianmei () was forced to have an abortion in Zhenping County, Shaanxi, China, when she was seven months pregnant with her second child. Local officials had demanded that she and her husband pay a 40,000 yuan fine for violating the nation's one-child policy. When they were unable to do so, authorities arrested Feng, made her sign an agreement to have an abortion, and held her down while injecting her with an abortifacient. She was reportedly traumatized by the incident and in poor health afterwards.

On June 11, Feng's family posted graphic pictures of her stillborn child. The images soon became a viral phenomenon, sparking controversy within China and drawing international attention to the issue of forced abortions. In response to national and international attention, the Chinese government launched an investigation. On June 26, the investigation determined that Feng was not legally entitled to a second child, but that her rights had nonetheless been violated by the local family planning bureau, and as a result, two officials were fired and five others punished. On June 27, the National Population and Family Planning Commission announced it would send inspection teams across China to review the practices of local family planning divisions. Feng's husband, Deng Jiyuan (), hired a lawyer to pursue criminal charges, but ultimately the family decided to settle out of court.

The incident led to increased scrutiny of China's one-child policy, both nationally and internationally. Feng's case has been cited in editorials critical of the one-child policy, and has also been used as an example of how the Internet is empowering ordinary people in an environment of government censorship. On July 5, European Parliament passed a resolution condemning both Feng's case and forced abortion in general. On January 1, 2016, after months of discussion, China's one-child policy was replaced with a two-child policy. Provided by Wikipedia