Arzigul Tursun, pregnant with her third child, is hospitalized under orders by Chinese officials who plan to forcibly terminate her pregnancy. China has a one-child-per-family rule. Tursun is allowed to have two children because she belongs to the Uighur minority group. Local officials determined she should undergo an abortion when she became pregnant with her third child, according to the Associated Press. She and her husband are the parents of twin girls.
Forced abortions are not unheard of in China, but Tursun’s case is particularly controversial because she is six months pregnant. International pressure has delayed the procedure. She tried to flee her village to avoid a forced abortion procedure, but her family was then threatened with the loss of their house and property in the rural village of Yining, according to the China Digital Times.
Tursun’s husband commented on Tursun’s return and entry into the hospital: “We considered our two girls. If the house and properties were taken away, how would they live?”