Birth control measures voluntary under the law: expert
Health officials in Southwest China's Yunnan Province on Tuesday are investigating a man's claims that he was forced to undergo tube ligation after violating the family planning policy by having four children.
The man, surnamed Hu, told the Beijing Youth Daily that he was taken away by local health officials in Luokan township during the Spring Festival holidays and was forced to undergo the surgery in an "office room" instead of a hospital.
Hu also claimed he was beaten up by the health officials.
Hu's family called police after he was taken away. However, the man said police threatened to detain him for 15 days for "disturbing order in the workplace" if he refused the surgery, the Beijing Youth Daily reported Monday.
Hu has three children with his ex-wife and one child with his current one. He was fined during his first marriage.
A publicity official of Zhenxiong county, which administers Luokan, told the Beijing Youth Daily that the surgery was legitimate, saying Hu violated the family planning policy by having three children during his first marriage.
According to Yunnan's family planning regulation, couples who remarry can apply for a third child if one of the couple is childless before marriage.
The regulation states that fines will only be applied to family planning policy violators.
The publicity official surnamed Xiong also denied Hu was beaten up, adding that the surgery was performed at the local "family planning service center," which he said has certified medical facilities and doctors.
Family planning authorities in Zhaotong city and government inspectors from Zhenxiong county both launched an investigation on Tuesday, according to a statement released on the website of Yunnan's Health and Family Planning Commission.
The province's health authority could not be reached for comment as of press time.
The report has attracted wide attention online, with the topic viewed more than 2 million times.
"Put the violation aside, health officials have no right to force Hu to undergo the surgery, as all birth control measures should be done voluntarily as required by China's law on family planning , Liang Zhongtang, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Calling the local health officials' move as "sloppy and violent," a commentary on cjn.cn, a news site based in Wuhan, Hubei Province said that "it's time to ligature the indulgent abuse of government power."
After China started relaxing its family planning policy in 2013, coercive birth control measures were reduced, though inhumane and illegal practices will remain with the family planning policy, said Liang.
However, China will fully lift the policy in the future, though the timetable remains unclear, which is a necessary to respect the right of procreation, Liang added.
