(Image Source: BBC )

 

BY FERDOUS AL-FARUQUE

ANCHOR LAUREN ZIMA

A photo of Feng Jiamei with the body of her forcibly aborted seven month fetus has caused a firestorm around the world and in China where the government enforces a One-Child Policy. The image was too gruesome for many news organizations to show, including Newsy:

“Al Jazeera isn’t going to show this image from Steve Chow because of its distressing nature.”
“We’ve decided that it’s too unsettling, too graphic for too many of our viewers.”
“The whole photo is too shocking to show you. This is what we’ve cropped for you to see.”

In a 2008 Pew study , three-in-four Chinese surveyed support the One-Child Policy. It was introduced in 1979, to slow birth-rates in the most populous country in the world. Critics however say it has led to mass abortions and infanticide. According to The New Stateman’s Samira Shackle :

“China’s rates of abortion are sky-high: on average, 8 million women have one each year.”

CNN’s Eunice Yoon says Feng's story has cause, “very rare domestic media coverage and heated comments online.”

“A lot of these comments seem to have some effect. The authorities originally had insisted that the operation was voluntary. Later though they backtracked and said the procedure had been illegal.”