Bas-relief at Angkor Wat depicting a demon performing an ancient abortion.
About three years ago, I reported that there was a possibility that China may change its “one-child” policy (see China May Change its ‘One-Child’ Policy), and it has:
BEIJING—
After 35 years of limiting most couples to having just one child, China’s Communist Party on Thursday announced that it will change existing laws to allow all families to have two children without penalty.
Some welcomed the move and the “warmth” it would bring to families that up until now have been limited to only one child, while others focused on the economic challenges the policy shift might bring, highlighting just how big a struggle the government has ahead.
The change is largely based on the growing economic pressures facing China.
Shrinking workforce
While the country has a massive population, those who were born before the policy went into place, who came from bigger families, are becoming a bigger portion of the population. All of this is unfolding against the backdrop of China’s shrinking labor force.
Haohao, a 23-year-old Beijinger who hopes to get married soon, said she had always wanted to have two children.
“Being able to have more kids will create a happier environment in the home,” she said. “With two kids, one can take care of the other. Families will be warmer and more full of love, and when you get older there will be more children to help take care of you.” http://www.voanews.com/content/china-mixed-reaction-to-two-child-policy-shift/3028015.html
This change, while not perfect, is good news as it will result in less abortions.
Policies like China’s tend to result in more female babies being aborted, and that is what happens there. In essence, it becomes a type of female “gendercide.”
In June 2011, in an article by the Wall Street Journal, Jonathan V. Last did an in-depth review of a book titled Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men by Mara Hvistendahl...
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