Outcry as Chinese woman considers illegal abortion at 8 months fearing draconian one-child policy means her husband would lose job

A public outcry has been raised over the plight of a woman who’s considering an illegal abortion at 8 months because the child would violate China’s restrictive birth policy and cost her husband his job as a police officer.

Members of the public have been phoning local officials in the couple’s Yunnan province community to inquire about the case, and an online travel service reportedly has offered the husband a position if he loses his government job.

The case has rekindled debate over whether employment in the public sector should be used to enforce the policy that limits urban couples to one child in cases where both husband and wife have at least one sibling.

The 41-year-old woman, who spoke on condition that she be identified only by her surname, Chen, said on Monday that the couple felt under pressure to abort their second child to keep her husband’s job with local police.

“I’m fearful,” Chen said. “If my husband believes I must abort the child, there’s nothing I can do.”

She has also grown uneasy about the public attention her case is drawing. “I am worried he would lose his job even after we lose the baby, if the situation gets messy.”