Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) is one of Congress’s loudest voices on right to life issues. One of his most passionate causes, is exposing and dismantling China’s inhumane One Child Policy.
At the Heritage Foundation this Thursday, Smith joined fellow freedom fighters Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, and human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, for a discussion of China’s disastrous policy.
Smith began with a powerful speech at the podium, listing just a few of the law’s atrocities. Here a just a few reasons why Smith calls the One Child Policy the “most egregious act against women ever:”
“It bans single moms from carrying to term.”
“Women are held in punishment cells or her relatives beaten if she resists pressure. Or, she is forced to undergo a forced abortion.”
“There are 590 female suicides per day – the only country higher than male suicides. It’s three times higher.”
Smith also mentioned a few other inevitable consequences that have resulted from this policy. Namely, that China has become one of the world’s prime hubs for sex trafficking, and that the surplus of Chinese men has led to economic instability and raised the specter of war.
With all these factors in mind, Smith had a list of people to criticize. Namely, women’s rights groups who are too busy claiming Republicans are waging a “war on women,” and the Obama administration for not taking decisive action against the Chinese government – especially since they’ve had ample opportunity to do so. When Vice President Joe Biden visited a Chinese university three years ago, he said he “fully understands” the policy and “wouldn’t second guess it.” Smith called these statements “unconscionable.” Biden presumably refused to challenge the policy because he didn’t want to hamper trade relations, Smith explained. Smith also challenged the Obama administration for giving money to the United Nations Population Fund, which he says is “complicit” in the One Child Policy.
Smith is not just looking for applause. In addition to putting forward legislation to raise awareness and end the atrocities in China, he was also part of the successful effort that helped activist Chen Guangcheng escape from a prison cell in China, where he was being held for demonstrating against the One Child Policy. Guangcheng has continued to fight against this legislation and powerfully simplified the policy for the Heritage audience:
“The government grabs babies out of your womb.”
Guangcheng shared one particularly tragic story about a couple in China who was pregnant without a permit. They were driving along a road one day and government officials stopped them and dragged the husband out of the truck and beat him. Then, they forcibly brought them both to an abortion clinic, where they forced the mother to terminate her pregnancy.
These kinds of stories are not anomalies – and it’s why Guangcheng is fighting every day to end the policy that has “demoralized” his country, as he puts it.
Women’s Rights Without Frontiers President Reggie Littlejohn had some other devastating statistics to share about China’s Once Child Policy:
“In the time we speak, at least 1,500 women will be aborted in China.”
“Up to 200 million women are missing today because of gendercide.”
Littlejohn also dedicated part of her speech to discussing how forced abortions in China not only kill wanted children, they also put mothers at risk. It’s so violent, she says, that sometimes women die in the operations too. What’s more, with each abortion, studies have shown women are at increased risks for breast cancer.
In this kind of environment, it’s no wonder Rep. Smith asserts that for women in China, their “trauma is beyond comprehension.”
In summary: The One Child Policy is indefensible.
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