As the US debates Roe V Wade
China prepares itself
for a major change to its abortion laws
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
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Well, it’s Saturday. Let’s enjoy the weekend with a nice relaxing topic—abortion!
Yes, abortion is back in the news in the US in a big way,
once again sparking a fierce debate between people who are pro-life and pro-choice.
But in China’s communist utopia,
there’s no need for debate! Because the Communist Party is both anti-life and anti-choice.
I know, hard to imagine.
When the Chinese Communist Party took power in 1949, they wanted people to have
babies. Lots of babies. The more people China had, the stronger it would be.
Mao Zedong specifically encouraged people to have kids.
What better aphrodisiac is there than a brutal dictator telling
you to multiply for the good of the country.
Oh yeah. That puts me in the mood.
The Party even banned birth control.
One reason was that Mao was concerned about nuclear war.
In a 1957 speech, Mao said he wasn’t afraid of
nuclear war because with a Chinese population of 600 million people.
“Even if half of them are killed, there are still 300 million left. I’m not afraid of anyone.”
Swell guy.
What better aphrodisiac is there than wanting to pump out cannon fodder for ensuing nuclear war?
Oh yeah. That puts me in the mood.
But then by the late 1970s, the Communist Party got worried about having too many people.
And so began the infamous One-Child Policy in the 1980s.
There were exceptions. But for the most part,
Chinese citizens were only allowed to have one child.
But how do you enforce that? Well, by monitoring women’s menstrual cycles!
In rural settings, a woman “would probably be grouped together with a set of households and come
under what they call a cluster leader, somebody who sort of monitors the progress and fertility.”
In the cities, your menstrual cycle would be tracked by your work unit.
And since everyone worked for the state, the Communist Party
knew your menstrual cycle. Surely there’s no way that system could be abused.
Now to make everything nice and bureaucratic, you had to apply for a birth permit to have a kid.
It was basically a way for local governments to make money.
So what happened after you had your one child? State-enforced birth control.
Women would get an IUD inserted in their uterus.
Now you might ask, what if a woman refused? And I would say,
you think this is a system where people have a choice?
Anti-life, anti-choice, remember?
That’s basically the CCP’s anthem.
But here’s the problem: China was using steel rings as IUDs, because of their low cost.
But they had a high failure rate. A lot of women got pregnant again anyway, even with the IUD.
And a woman got pregnant with a second child, she and her family would be slapped with huge
fines. Again, a way for local governments to make money.
And then the woman would usually be forced to get an abortion—no matter how late in the pregnancy.
In 2012, photos of this woman, Feng Jianmei, went viral after officials
forced her to have an abortion when she was 7 months pregnant.
One of the viral photos showed the dead body of her baby,
which I’ll spare you. After all, it is a Saturday.
A documentary maker went to China to ask midwives about their experiences
enforcing the One Child Policy.
She asked one midwife if she remembered how many babies she delivered.
“And she said: ‘I don't have the number of deliveries, but I do remember I did 50,000 to
60,000 abortions, and I counted that because I felt guilty.’”
The thing that made the midwife feel really guilty?
“Sometimes a late-term baby would be born alive,
and she would have to kill the baby after delivering it.”
And I thought the Handmaid’s Tale was dark. The opposite of that is way darker.
And that wasn’t all. After the forced abortion, was the forced sterilization.
Here’s what one gynecologist said about working during the One-Child Policy:
“Around 1984, the Communist Party in my county was cracking down on women who didn’t have a
tubal ligation. Women came to the hospital in numbers. All I did were tubal ligations,
one after the other, from 8 am until 6 pm, for about two months”.
Now obviously, when faced with forced abortion or sterilization, some woman chose to go into hiding.
If that happened,
“Officials would bulldoze homes and arrest family members until the women came forward.”
I don’t know why they went to such great lengths to control their population.
Just think about all that extra cannon fodder for nuclear annihilation!
And if, miraculously, the woman managed to give birth, that child would be technically illegal.
They wouldn’t be given any identification or residency documents.
They couldn’t go to public school, couldn’t get a normal job,
couldn’t even go to the doctor because China’s healthcare system is run by the government. There
are an estimated 6.5 million “undocumented” Chinese people in that exact situation.
Through the One Child Policy, the Chinese Communist Party brags
that it “prevented” 400 million births.
Yeah, well the bubonic plague also prevented lots
of births, but it’s not exactly something to brag about, is it?
But besides all the problems that come with having a society where people track
women’s periods, and women are forced to have abortions and sterilizations,
another problem is sex selective abortion.
People tended to prefer boys, for cultural reasons. Meaning girls
were often aborted. So much so that now, according to even Chinese state-run media,
there are 30 million more men than there are women in China.
Imagine all the problems that come with that.But one of the problems
the Chinese Communist Party actually cares about is a demographic crisis.
China’s birthrate is now at a 61-year low.
Hm. I’m surprised years of spying on women’s periods and forcing women to have abortions
and sterilizations have made people less eager to have kids. You’d think that would be
the ultimate aphrodisiac.
China will soon be a nation of old people. Not good for the economy.
And you know how much Communists care about the economy.
The solution? Continue to be anti-life and anti-choice, but in a different horrible way!
More after this quick commercial break.
Welcome back.
After the Communist Party pushed people to have tons of babies, there was a demographic crisis.
And then after the Communist Party pushed people to have abortions and sterliziations,
there was another demographic crisis.
Obviously the solution now is to push people to have babies again!
Surely this won’t result in a demographic crisis! Then eventually lead to abortions
and sterilizations and another demographic crisis.
Man, watching history unfold isn’t fun when it’s all reruns.
Over the past several years, the One-Child Policy became a two,
then three child policy. With even cash and paid-leave incentives.
Because the Party isn’t just allowing people to have more babies.
They desperately want people to have more babies.
The problem now is a lot of people don’t want even one.
I can’t imagine why, though. Whenever I’m on a red eye flight, and a baby behind me is kicking
my seat and screaming for 4 straight hours, my thought is, “I need to get me one of those.”
Party officials are warning that “Getting married and having kids was no longer a
priority for younger generations, and that the costs associated with having just one
child are significant enough to determine whether parents decide to have more children.”
By the way, for ethinc minorities like the Uyghurs,
forced abortions and sterilizations are still the name of the game.
Because the CCP is so racist they don’t even consider some
ethnic groups to be good enough to be nuclear cannon fodder.
So how much longer until the three child policy becomes a mandatory three child policy?
I don’t even want to imagine how that would be enforced.
Already you have top Chinese officials talking about working to achieve
an “appropriate” fertility level.
Propaganda outlets are talking about having children for the country.
And hey, you know how officials were spying on women’s menstruation?
Well, why not get them involved in match making, too!
A CCP dating site? That might be the most horrifying thing I’ve
talked about in this episode. And that’s saying something.
Some are proposing “The government should create a ‘good matchmaking environment and
encourage women aged between 21 and 29 to give birth during this optimal reproductive period.’”
And now, after decades of forcing millions of abortions,
the Party is suddenly restricting abortions for non-medical purposes.
This is not because the Party made a terrible mistake before, no no.
This is all about promoting gender equality. Somehow.
That’s like saying you only ate the last slice of pizza
in a show of solidarity with the trans community.
One top comment on Chinese social media said, “The female body has become
a tool. When (the state) wants you to bear a child, you must do it at all cost.
When (the state) doesn't want it, you’re not allowed to give birth even at the risk of death.”
Before the One Child Policy ended, many clinics in China would advertise their pain-free abortions.
“Bye bye pain, hello happiness.” Why is she…wearing a wedding dress?
“She’s painless induced abortion”. Awww look, it's their prom picture.
“You love her, give her the best.” Is this an ad for abortion or jewelry?
“Relax for three minutes.” Yes this is still for abortion.
“Maria Maternity Hospital's Carefree and Painfree Abortions” If it’s good enough for white women…
“Painless procedures.” Are you getting an abortion or getting your nails done?!
But now, those billboards are being replaced with ads encouraging having babies. Lots of babies.
Promises of pain-free abortions are being replaced with promises of pain-free births.
My favorite pressure campaign to get women to have lots of kids is the leftover women
campaign. Basically telling women if they don’t get married by the time they’re 27,
no one will want them, like old leftovers.
The leftover women campaign is actually run by the Chinese Communist Party’s feminist
organization. I’m not making this up.
But don’t worry. I’m sure if this campaign to get people to have more babies is successful,
it will only be a matter of time before the Party freaks out, and creates some new policy
to further control how many babies each person is supposed to have.
What could go wrong?
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I’m Chris Chappell. Thanks for watching China Uncensored.