Pregnant inmate forced into abortion to be executed

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2004-08-29 08:44pm

Pregnant Inmate Forced To Undergo Abortion To Be Eligible for Death Penalty in China
27 Aug 2004

Chinese prison officials have forced a pregnant inmate found guilty of transporting heroin to undergo an abortion so that she could be eligible for the death penalty, according to a report published on Wednesday, AFP/Yahoo! News reports.

Ma Weihua in January was arrested in Gansu province for transporting 56 ounces of heroin from Xinjiang province. Under China's criminal code, individuals convicted of trafficking that amount of heroin can be executed.

However, following Ma's arrest, prison doctors discovered during a routine physical exam that she was approximately seven weeks pregnant. Under Chinese law, pregnant women and people younger than age 18 cannot be executed.

What are Pre-eclampsia and Eclampsia?

Although Ma said she wanted to carry the pregnancy to term, officers from the anti-drug task force at the Chengguan police substation in February signed a consent form ordering an abortion "on her behalf," according to AFP/Yahoo! News.

The consent form stated that the substation director requested that Ma be forced to undergo the procedure because she was "uncooperative." The form also noted that Ma was given general anesthesia -- which put her to sleep -- instead of the local anesthetic usually used for early-term abortions, according to Ma's attorney Weng Weihua.

Weng last month in the Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court argued in favor of reducing Ma's sentence because of her pregnancy and because she has exhibited remorse, it was her first offense and her actions "did not constitute serious harm to society," AFP/Yahoo! News reports.

A verdict is expected in the next few days, according to AFP/Yahoo! News.

China also has announced that beginning Oct.1 the country will enforce new interrogation rules in order to "curb abuses by police," including the regulation that pregnant women cannot be interrogated for more than four hours and cannot be shut in detention rooms, according to AFP/Yahoo! News (AFP/Yahoo! News, 8/25).

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-08-29 08:45pm

Ah, china. Why am I not even surprised?

The Cleric · Post by **The Cleric** » 2004-08-29 08:46pm

The first part makes me angry, but then it takes a strange turn for the better. We'll have to see what the final verdict is.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2004-08-29 09:06pm

MKSheppard wrote:Ah, china. Why am I not even surprised?

Exactly. It's China, their human rights record is about as good as the Soviet Union's was under Stalin. Only the Islamofascist countries are more fucked up.

Spice Runner · Post by **Spice Runner** » 2004-08-29 09:42pm

They seem to be taking a step in the right direction with the new interrogation rule. However they need to take much larger steps that direction.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-08-29 09:42pm

Ahh, now that's how you maintain the moral high ground while waging a war on drugs!

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2004-08-29 10:25pm

Well I hope everyone who has called for the execution of drug users and dealers in the past is happy. You're getting what you want.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2004-08-29 10:32pm

I imagine this is how Stalin would have fought a drug war.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-08-29 11:03pm

Gandalf wrote:I imagine this is how Stalin would have fought a drug war.

Stalin probably would have liked the idea of getting the entire population hooked on drugs; unfortunately for him the Russian climate doesn't really support growing anything.

Jawawithagun · Post by **Jawawithagun** » 2004-08-30 05:45am

Sea Skimmer wrote:
Gandalf wrote:I imagine this is how Stalin would have fought a drug war.
Stalin probably would have liked the idea of getting the entire population hooked on drugs; unfortunately for him the Russian climate doesn't really support growing anything.

Actually, even under Stalin the Russians were already hooked. Their drug of choice being vodka of course.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-08-30 07:31am

Jawawithagun wrote:
Sea Skimmer wrote:
Gandalf wrote:I imagine this is how Stalin would have fought a drug war.
Stalin probably would have liked the idea of getting the entire population hooked on drugs; unfortunately for him the Russian climate doesn't really support growing anything.
Actually, even under Stalin the Russians were already hooked. Their drug of choice being vodka of course.

Don't be ridiculous. Alcohol is a delicious, refreshing, totally non-drug byproduct of America's gigantic grain surplus that produces tens of billions of dollars of taxable revenue every year. Just because it's addictive, poisonous, and causes people to do stupid things doesn't mean it's a drug. The distinction is obvious: drugs are evil (unless they're government sanctioned antidepressants--those drugs are so good we can give them to children), and alcohol clearly isn't.