European Parliament
Roberta Angelilli  (PPE ).
(IT)
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in China, the one-child policy has led to the birth rate being controlled through violent coercive measures, including forced abortion up to eight months and forced sterilisation. Whoever conceives a child outside of the quota set out by the State is issued with a steep fine. Whoever opposes termination of the pregnancy, including family members, is punished with a prison sentence, and their house may also be destroyed.
It is an atrocity and an unacceptable violation of human rights to subject a woman to a termination just because she does not have a permit from the government. It really would be simplistic to describe this as a simple trauma suffered by one woman, and not surprisingly, according to the World Health Organisation, women in China have a higher suicide rate than men. A pregnancy that is terminated should be defined as true child murder.

